Child Marriages In Andhra Pradesh

GO TO SOURCE

HYDERABAD, INDIA, JUNE 23, 2001: Child marriages are banned under Indian laws, but a nongovernmental organization (NGO) working in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh publicly organized 11 such weddings in one day. Uchita Viaha Vedika, a voluntary NGO which arranges free mass weddings of poor couples, organized those of 11 couples aged between 12 and 16 years old on May 20, in the presence of a local legislator and other eminent people. Child marriages are common in some back regions but this is perhaps the first time that a voluntary organization publicly arranged such weddings. In India, the legal age for marriage of boys is 21 and of girls 18.