Spotlight
“I had gone for a field visit to a village in Bagalkot district last year when I came across a girl who had a bump that clearly indicated that she was pregnant. Upon enquiry, I found out that this 15-year-old girl was engaged to a boy and was not married. When I said that she was pregnant, the villagers fought with me and said that she was not even married. When I sent her to the hospital, we got to know that she was four months pregnant, and the families of both sides were genuinely not aware of the situation,” said Tejaswini Hiremath, social scientist and former member of the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Bagalkot.
“In Bengaluru, a 13-year-old girl got pregnant and even delivered a baby. She had no awareness of what happened to her and did not even know the concept of pregnancy. When a case was registered, and she was asked to identify the man who did this to her, she showed an auto driver. But the DNA tests did not match. Later, she said she did not know who the man was. Ultimately, we could not catch the culprit in the case at all,” shared Anjali Ramanna, former CWC member and women and juvenile rights advocate.
These are just some of the disturbing cases as the lack of awareness around sex and contraceptives, sexual abuse, early engagements and marriages prompted by socio-economic situations and traditional beliefs have led to an increase in underage and child pregnancies (aged below 18 years) in Karnataka in the post-COVID-19 period.
According to data presented by Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar in the Legislative Assembly session in December, 252 cases of underage pregnancies were registered before the Child Welfare Committee in 2021–22, 405 cases in 2022–23, and 709 in 2023–24.
The Minister attributed this increase to changing family systems, usage of social media by children, increasing child marriages and POCSO cases, ‘more love affairs among teenagers’, and traditional practices.
Activists who work on the ground lauded the government for at least acknowledging that there are cases of underage pregnancies rather than denying them. However, they said what is reported is a very small number of cases while the reality paints a graver situation.
The why of it all
One of the main causes of underage pregnancies is child marriage, which is still prevalent despite efforts from both activists and government officials. Tejaswini recalled how, in the post-pandemic years, children who were in the age group of 9-12 years were increasingly getting married.
“Before that, we usually saw cases where girls between the ages of 15 and 17 years were getting married. But during the pandemic, we saw really young girls, some of whom had not even lost all their baby teeth, getting married. This might have been because of the socio-economic crisis. Subsequently, in 2022, we saw a huge increase in the number of child pregnancies,” she said.
It is also noteworthy that the post-pandemic period was also the time when there was a lot of migration as people went back in search of jobs to bigger towns and cities. “Marriage is still considered an institution that guarantees safety and security, especially in rural areas. Around 2022, many men found jobs in cities, and those who had daughters who were around 15-16 years of age married them off for safety reasons,” shared a resident from a village in Yadgir district.
Migration to Bengaluru, especially from northern States, also led to an increase in the number of underage pregnancies found in Bengaluru, according to activists. “Men who are working in Bengaluru as carpenters, masons or construction workers often bring a few girls from their States here for household work. Those girls come from far-off places with no education and end up getting pregnant here,” said Anjali.
Anjali also spoke about how society views marriage and pregnancy as a means to ‘tame women’. “There are a lot of families which fear that their daughters will fall in love with a boy of a different caste or class, and that is why they marry them off early. Then the couple will have no idea about how to handle their sex lives, and they get pregnant young,” she said.
She also spoke about how these kinds of pregnancies are also prevalent in urban settings. “The girls will be going to schools with big names, and when the family gets to know that they are dating, they get them married. Such cases exist even in rich families and is not just limited to socio-economically weaker sections.”
Lack of awareness
With conversations about sex and contraceptives still viewed as taboo in Indian societies, girls in child marriages often end up getting pregnant without intending to.
“Girls do not get decision-making rights after marriage. Many are still not even aware that sex makes them pregnant,” said Vasudeva Sharma N.V., Executive Director at Child Rights Trust, who has worked extensively with girls who were married and got pregnant before becoming adults.
“No one had spoken to the girls I worked with about contraceptives or safe sex. Even in hospitals, when they arrived, some of the staff asked them inappropriate questions and blamed the girl and her family. What is our system doing, especially in villages? There is no way that anaganwadi workers or ASHAs or general health workers are unaware of girls being married. Why do they not speak to them about prevention of pregnancies?”
Activists speak widely about systemic failure on many levels when it comes to underage pregnancies. They demand that doctors and medical workers should take more responsibility to prevent pregnancies.
“In hospitals, adults convince the doctors that the girl is dependent on her husband, and if the case is reported, then he will be sent to jail, and the girl will have to face the consequences. Hence, in many cases, they do not report it. What is being shared by them is only 5% of cases that come in,” Tejaswini said.
Considering the serious health risks that come with underage pregnancies, Vasudeva also argued that ground-level health workers should be much more vigilant. “There is a high chance that many of these girls might be anaemic. This leads to abortions, which in itself can be highly dangerous. With no proper awareness, they get pregnant again within two months after the abortion. The ground-level health workers should monitor these things and advice the girls,” he said.
Patients in rural areas
“In Bengaluru, we see cases of underage pregnancies more in rural patients than in urban ones,” said Dr. Spurthy G. Janney, Consultant – Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Manipal Hospitals, Whitefield. “Those in urban areas generally are aware of safe sex and contraceptives. Even then, when they come for consultation for other gynaecological issues, we educate them about safe sex and contraception.”
She added, “Among rural girls with teenage pregnancies, we also see a lot of cases of frequent pregnancies. In such cases, we usually call them in after the third or fourth month of delivery, counsel them about contraception and let them know that they should take at least a gap of 18 months before conceiving again. We also tell them about the barrier method of contraception, which is provided for free by the government, and if they have three children or more, then we also advise them about the family planning scheme.”
No govt. department
However, there is no specific government department which deals with these pregnancies. While the Women and Child Welfare Department keeps a tab on the cases reported and has officers to stop child marriages, the Health Department is only concerned with reporting cases which come to hospitals, according to the existing regulations. In fact, there is no data on the exact number of underage pregnancies in the State. While the CWCs only provide data about the number of cases registered, the Health Department says there is no authenticated data in this regard.
“It is the Women and Child Welfare Department which deals with underage pregnancies. Whenever our doctors get to know of such cases, they report it to the appropriate authorities. The treatment will not be denied, but since it will be considered a POCSO case, it will be reported to CWC, and they will take further action. We only render health services,” said Sivakumar. K.B., Commissioner, Health and Family Welfare Department.
Earlier in September 2024, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sent out a circular to 10 government departments about prevention of underage pregnancies after the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal indicated that there were 28,657 such cases in the period between January 2023 and November 2023.
This note included directions to the Health Department to solve the technical issues on the RCH portal and mandatorily register the proper age of the girls on the age matrix index. However, as of January 2025, Health Department officials said the portal’s data about underage pregnancies were not authenticated.
Minister for Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar also mentioned that the government has taken many steps, including broadcasting a 13-week series on radio in 2024 to raise awareness about underage pregnancies. She said 697 awareness programmes were held across the State in government and private schools, in which 5.75 lakh people participated. The government has also collaborated with an NGO to train the staff to prevent these pregnancies.
Activists warn that if appropriate steps are not taken now to prevent these pregnancies, then the State and the country will suffer long-term human capital losses. “First of all, the birth rate of the country is on the decline. If our existing children are also subjected to pregnancies and these hardships, then what will happen to our human capital in a few years? The government should seriously think about this,” remarked Tejaswini.
Published – January 31, 2025 06:18 am IST