NCPCR seeks Bengal govt's report on child marriages

Kolkata, April 4 The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sent a notice to the West Bengal government seeking clarifications on the allegations of negligence by appropriate state authorities in connection with complaints about child marriages in the state.

Sources in the state government said that the notice sought reports on action taken by the authorities in 1,640 such cases, the details for which are missing.

Sources said that NCPCR in its notice has pointed out that during the 17-month period from April 2021 till September 2022, there had been 6,733 complaints of child marriage attempts in West Bengal, of which 4,001 were reported during the 12-month period between April 2021 and March 2022, and remaining 2,732 were from April 2022 to September 2022.

As per the NCPCR notice, of the total 6,733 complaints received during the 17-month period from April 2021 till September 2022, as many as 5,093 cases were resolved, which implies that the child marriages could be prevented.

Again, out of 5,093 resolved cases, 2,732 were during the 12- month period between April 2021 and March 2022 and the remaining 2,154 were during the remaining five-month period from April 2022 to September 2022.

This, according to NCPCR, means that reports for as many as 1,640 cases during the 17-month period from April 2021 till September 2022 are missing, out of which 1,062 are during the 12- month period between April 2021 and March 2022 and the remaining 578 are during the remaining five-month period from April 2022 to September 2022.

Besides seeking a clarification from the state government on the status of such cases for which reports are missing, NCPCR has also directed the state police director general to start legal proceedings under the provisions of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 in such cases in which the reports as missing.

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