TAPLEJUNG, Aug 14: Publicizing a report with horrifying details of child marriage, Nepal Women Entrepreneurs Association (NWEA) said that child marriage is 'deep rooted' in Taplejung after conducting an audit of the District Health Office (DFO) in the Fiscal Year 2017/18.

NWEA warned that if child marriage is not curbed in the district, the indicators of health institutions would keep falling down. As per the provision of the government, it is compulsory for both girls and boys to be above 20 years to be eligible for marriage. But around half of the population in the mountainous district of Taplejung practice child marriage.

Among the total 600 women who visited hospital for delivery during last fiscal year, 209 of them were below 20 years, informed Devraj Gurung, who was involved in the audit.

An earlier report published by the Women and Children Office (WCO), Taplejung two years ago, shows that 48.71% of the total married population of the district has practiced child marriage.

However, the situation has not changed a bit in two years, claimed Gurung. The details show 58,681 people of the total 1,27,461 population in the district were married. Surprisingly, 25,589 of them were children.

Sita Gurung, acting chief of WCO, stated that more number of children are getting married these days without the consent of their parents. This has been a headache for child rights workers. Various organizations are conducting programs to make girls and women aware about health hazards due to child marriage.

Sarita Lingden, who has long contributed to the welfare of children, says awareness is the main weapon to curb child marriage. The government is preparing to bring a major change in the Muluki Ain or the Civil Code introduced during the time of Jung Bahadur Rana. According to advocate Balram Bhattarai, the new family law which will be introduced from August 17, will make it mandatory for all to get married after 20 years. It has also made it clear that no marriage shall be done without the consent of both the male and female.

If anyone is found getting married before the eligible age, s/he will be slapped a three-year jail term and Rs 20,000 compensation. Not just that, their marriage will be automatically scrapped under the law.