Unicef Report noted 18% of those below 15 years and 47% of those below 18 years are Married in India

As per Unicef’s State of the World’s Children Report 2012, 18 per cent of those below 15 years and 47 per cent of those below 18 years are married in India. Thirty percent of Indian girls aged between 15 and 19 are married. The Unicef’s report presented a dark picture of child marriage and marital rights awareness among adolescents in India.

Twenty-two per cent women in India aged between 20 and 24 years were found to have become mothers before the legal marriageable age of 18. Among 15 to 19 year olds, 57 per cent boys and 53 per cent girls believed that a husband is justified in beating his wife under certain circumstances.

Bangladesh (46), Burkina Faso, Guinea (59), Mali and Ethiopia are the countries where a higher proportion of children are married off before 18 years.