Haryana: 278 child marriage complaints dealt with since Oct

As many as 278 complaints of child marriage have been dealt with by Protection cum Prohibition Officers in Haryana till date from October last year.

Of these, 129 child marriages were prevented by counselling and 30 through injunction orders. The rest were either referred to police or application given for nullity under Section 3, an official spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The state government has established Special Cells for Women and Children in each district to implement the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Meanwhile, the spokesperson said the Haryana Women and Child Development Department would organise a ‘malnutrition awareness’ campaign in all villages from December 10 to January 2, 2015, with a view to reducing malnutrition among children.

During the campaign, children’s weight would be measured at anganwadi centres from December 10 to 14.

The campaign would focus on villages with a large number of underweight children and a list of such habitations would be prepared for the purpose, the spokesperson added.