A recent study on child marriage in India published in the Lancet noted the overall decrease in child marriage across the country.
But it pointed out that four States, mainly accounted for more than half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.
They are: Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra (8.2%).
For boys, Gujarat (29%), Bihar (16·5%), West Bengal (12.9%), and Uttar Pradesh (8.2%) accounted for more than 60 per cent of the burden.
One in five girls and nearly one in six boys are still married below the legal age of marriage in India
The largest absolute increase in girls headcount was observed in West Bengal, representing an increase of 32.3% in headcount.
West Bengal saw the largest absolute increase with over 5,00,000 more girls getting married as children.
The National Family Health Survey-5 points out that the women aged 20-24 years who were married before the age of 18 years in West Bengal remains one of the highest in the country at 41.6%.
The percentage was the same during the National Family Health Survey- 4.
The all-India figure of women aged 20-24 years getting married before they turn 18 is pegged at 23.3%.
In 2021, West Bengal registered 105 cases under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006.
Tamil Nadu registered 169 cases, Karnataka 273 and Assam 155 cases respectively in the same period.