Photo: VCG

A report that child marriages are on the rise in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic increased concern for the welfare of minors, especially young girls, among Chinese netizens on Tuesday, with the related hashtag getting more than 450 million views on Chinese social media.

In a post on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Tuesday, Chinese media Horizon News quoted a report from Indian media that said that the pandemic has caused a significant increase in child marriages in India as many local families have been forced to marry off their daughters to lighten their economic burdens.

The post said the Indian government has dealt with at least 92,000 cases concerning children's rights, and among these cases, 5,584 have involved child marriage.

Many Chinese netizens expressed sympathy for these underage girls who are being forced to marry, noting that most lose the opportunity to continue their education after marriage. 

"I know I cannot do anything for these poor girls but call on people to care about their welfare and legal rights. Please treat girls well, respect women and pay attention to women's physical and mental health, which is also important for the future development of the nation," netizen "jinribaozang" commented on Sina Weibo, representing the voice of many netizens.

Data from the Childline India Foundation shows its representatives intervened in 14,775 child marriage prevention cases between January and July, according to a report of the Straits Times.

According to the official website of Girl Not Brides, a global partnership of more than 1400 civil society organizations committed to ending child marriage, 27 percent of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday and 7 percent are married before the age of 15. 

According to UNICEF, India has the highest number of child brides in the world at 15,509,000.

The Girl Not Brides website also said that the problem of child marriage in India is driven by factors including poverty and level of education.

"Child marriage is more common among poorer households, with many families marrying off their daughters to reduce their perceived economic burden." 

"Many families consider girls to be paraya dhan - someone else's wealth. This means that a girl's productive capacities benefit her marital family, and educating daughters is therefore seen as less of a priority than educating sons."

India's economy contracted at the quickest pace on record in the second quarter of 2020. The economy decreased 23.9 percent sharply in the three months ending in June, compared with the previous year, according to official statistics released on Monday.

Global Times