The Uttarakhand High Court has expressed deep concern over the fact that a large number of young men and women are marrying at a young age and are coming to the High Court for protection. In the earlier hearing, the court had summoned Secretary Child Welfare Chandresh Yadav in the case, who appeared in the court today. The court directed Chandresh Kumar to prepare a plan and present it to the court in two weeks to make people aware in this regard and explain the seriousness of the POCSO Act and to organize these programs through various related departments in sensitive areas through methods like dramas, short films. The case will be heard after two weeks when the plan is presented before the court.
These were the reasons for the court’s concern
The division bench of Chief Justice G. Narender and Justice Alok Mehra said during the hearing on one such case that this trend is worrying and it is necessary to pay attention to it.
In the case, after marrying a girl of his age, a 19-year-old youth had sought protection from the girl’s family from the court. The court said that the number of such cases is increasing where the petitioners are often juveniles. Although the right to choose one’s life partner is legally recognized, the trend of marriage among minor children is increasing whereas it is difficult to have a sense of responsibility at such a young age.
The court also said that such cases have also come to light where the girl’s parents claimed that the daughter was a minor and on this basis the young man got a serious punishment under the POCSO Act and the married woman was left alone. In many cases, after marriage, the girl also became a mother and the husband went to jail under POCSO or after maturing, the couple separated and the child became destitute. This also encourages other crimes.
The court gave these important instructions
The court directed Secretary Education Chandresh Kumar to prepare a plan in two weeks to make people aware in this regard, especially to explain the seriousness of the POCSO Act to the parents and present it in the court so that they can guide the children. The court directed that these programmes be aggressively organised in vulnerable areas through the education department, rural development departments, Anganwadis, local administration and paralegal volunteers. Methods like plays, short films etc. should also be used to sensitise young adults.
