Child marriage is an old practice which in present times has become a grave violation of human rights, particularly, rights of children. In India, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prohibits solemnization of marriage of any person, whether a girl or a boy, who is below 18 and 21 years of age respectively.

Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) received information on May 6, 2011 through the Bachpan Bachao Andolan that a minor girl in Ghaziabad (UP) was getting married to a man who is 26 years old. An initial investigation revealed that the girl was living at her parents' premises in Vijaynagar, Ghaziabad.

April 13, 2011: A joint rescue operation conducted by the Delhi Task Force including activists of Human Rights Law Network, Salaam Baalak Trust, Childline India Foundation, Department of Labour, SDM officials and Delhi Police led to the release of 14 child labourers from a leather factory in Central Delhi.

In an industrial unit located at Azad Market in Sadar Bazaar area, the children were found to be working in most pathetic conditions. The child labourers were brought to Delhi from the villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by touts on false pretexts and were employed to make purses and bags. From about 20 children employed in the factory, 14 minors were rescued who were being confined in eight rooms not larger than 8ftx10ft space.

National Consultation on Child Rights and the Law

Around 14 rooms on the four floors of the building at Amarpuri, Nabi Karim, in the Paharganj area of Central Delhi. Each room of approximately 8”12 ft. is a small factory in itself, which accommodates eight to ten workers, and of these, three to four are children aged below 14 years. The noisy machines, the raw materials and the produced items are kept in the same room. Electrical wires are exposed throughout, posing a threat to children’s lives. It is difficult to imagine how the children stay here given the strong, pervasive chemical odour in the air, which would cause a severe headache and nausea to anyone who visited this place. The children share these tiny rooms with adult workers and sleep in the same congested place without enough space for them to even stretch their limbs when they lie down. Some of the children appear to be as young as seven or eight years of age and look badly malnourished.