Chhatreshwari Rural Municipality in Salyan, in coordination with the District Police Office, has launched a campaign against child marriage.

In the first phase of the campaign, stickers have been placed on a total of 4,700 houses in the district. The stickers include a message against child marriage, data of child marriage in the district and contact numbers of authorities and legal procedures.

Officials at the rural municipality said the campaign will also be supported by schools, health posts, women’s groups and children’s clubs.

Santosh KC, chief of the rural municipality, said the campaign is being launched in view of the increasing incidents of child marriage across the district.

“Child marriage has had far-reaching consequences among women, including mental illnesses, suicides and divorce,” KC said. “If we can’t curb the widespread practice now, then it is sure to take a devastating turn. We must act now.”

KC added that the municipal office has included the numbers of organisations working towards controlling child marriage in the stickers so that anybody can readily report any incidents of child marriage.

Moreover, the district police will hold awareness programmes where representatives will conduct lessons and training at every chowk in the rural municipality. “Within a week, all of the houses in the local unit will have stickers,” KC said. “Then, we will conduct a door-to-door campaign using loudspeakers and raise awareness through meetings. We hope the campaign will prove effective.”

Dilli Khadka, chief administrative officer of the rural municipality, said child marriage has been one of the biggest challenges of the local unit. “Like elsewhere, illiteracy and poverty are the two main causes behind the rising incidents of child marriage,” Khadka said.

DSP Dhakendra Khatiwada, chief of district police, said they have arrested as many as 20 people in the past three months in connection with child marriage. “Cases against them have been registered, and if proven guilty, they would be sentenced up to three years in jail and fined Rs30,000,” he said.

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Photo caption: Coordinator Kesh Bahadur Bista inaugurates the campaign by pasting stickers on the walls of the rural municipality office.