India, Hot Bed for Child Marriages

Other states like Andhra Pradesh have witnessed a drastic dip in under-18 marriage from 12.7 percent in 2001 to 4 percent in 2010, Assam (11.7 percent to 3.4 percent), Karnataka (15.8 percent to 3.6 percent), Madhya Pradesh (25.3 percent to 4 percent) and West Bengal (18.2 percent to 8.2 percent).

A few larger states recorded a minor dip; Maharashtra (6.4 percent in 2001 to 4 percent in 2010), UP (8.4 to 5.4) and Kerala (3.5 to 2.2).

While percentage of females marrying at 21 and above is 48.8 nationally, it varies from 36.7 in Rajasthan to 81.7 in Jammu & Kashmir. The report also suggested that more than half of the rural women in India married between 18 and 20 years of age compared to about one-third in urban areas.

It was also noted that one of the biggest problems with early marriage is that it leads to early childbirth. The State of the World's Children report 2012 released recently by Unicef said almost 22 percent women in India, who are currently aged between 20 and 24 years gave birth to a child before they turned 18.

Also, as per Unicef more than 40 percent of the world's child marriages still occur in India while, worldwide more than 60 million women between 20 and 24 years were married before they turned 18. Unicef suggested that "Child brides become mothers much before their bodies are physically mature," as reported TOI.