United Nations Report Says That India home to one in every three child brides in world

India has the sixth highest prevalence of child marriages in the world, with one in every three child bride living in India, a United Nations report said.

Child marriage among girls is most common in South Asia and sub—Saharan Africa and India is among the top 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage, UNICEF said in a report titled “Ending Child Marriage — Progress and prospects.” 

Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children or before their 18th birthday.

More than one in three — about 250 million — entered into union before age 15, the report said.

The 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are Niger, Bangladesh, Chad, Mali, Central African Republic, India, Guinea, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Nepal respectively

In India, about 27 % of women aged 20 to 49 years were married before age 15.

About 31 % of women in that age group were married after age 15 but before they turned 18.

The report added that in India, the median age at first marriage is 19.7 years for women in the richest quintile compared to 15.4 for the poorest women.