Govindapur has been declared the first child marriage free VDC in Saptari district amid a programme held here on Wednesday.

In a district of 91 VDCs where cases of child marriage is so rampant that more that 83 per cent people were recorded married when they are under 18 last year, the declaration seeks to inspire positive change in the local community.

A research carried by the Child Marriage and Dowry Elimination National Campaign Nepal in Rajbiraj last year unveils that the number of people getting married below 15 stood at 28 per cent.

The speakers at a programme jointly organized by Village Child Protection Committee and Chinnamasta VDC at Govindapur in Chinnamasta-4 in the district underscored enabling environment for declaring the whole district a child marriage- free zone.

Present at the programmes were VDC Secretary Satya Narayan Lal Yadav, District Child Protection Committee Officer Punam Chaudhary, Save the Children's Programme Coordinator Umesh Kumar Gupta, local political leaders and civic societies' leaders among others who jointly expressed their resolve against the child marriage. RSS