Govt mulling amending law, make reporting child marriages mandatory: Smriti Irani

The government is considering bringing amendments to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act to make reporting of child marriages mandatory for the agencies concerned, Women and Child Development minister Smriti Irani has said.

Her remarks came in response to a question on the prevalence of large number of cases of pregnancies among married girls under 18 years of age. The number of cases of pregnancies in girls under 18 years is as high as 21 per cent. Children born from child marriages are more prone to undernourishment, she said.