I was blown away when I heard one of the helps at my place talking about his daughter’s wedding. Marrying off a fifteen-year-old girl is not only absurd, but also foolish and pathetic. In the modern times, when India is progressing at such a high pace, deep rooted social evils like child marriage still exist.

Yes, child marriage should be banned. There is no second thought to this. Child marriage deprives a child of his or her childhood. It compels the child to adult forcefully at an age when they should not even know what adulting feels like. Apart from this, it has several detrimental consequences too. 

Child marriage is one of the main fuels to teen pregnancies. Girls often face pressure from their husband, in – laws and relatives to have a child at the earliest. This puts the teen mother’s life at risk. Complications in such pregnancies are quite likely to occur. They might breathe their last due to the complications. Even if they are saved from death during delivering, the threat of complicating health problems always stands still in front of them. Early pregnancies are also unsafe for the baby. Most babies born of such pregnancies depart their life within a week of taking birth.

The aftermath of child marriage is primarily seen on girls. They are supposed to leave their education and switch to being a responsible wife, daughter in law and mother. This is still prevalent in rural India where they do not see child marriage as wrong in anyway. What is to be understood is that such marriage not only affects the couple, but also the family, community, and the country on a whole. 

Child marriage is yet another result of gender inequality. Sexist in nature, this practice mostly affects girls.Poverty and lack of education are two factors that worsen the prospects of it taking place. It is now important to join hands and address this problem so that it is gone for good. Apart from the legal ban on child marriage, we as responsible citizens should do our part. For instance, I educated my help on this topic and convinced him to throw this idea out. We should take small steps and provide girls and their families with necessary information and education.