Official statistics on married Indian Women show that 31.3% Hindu women and 30.6% Muslim women were 17 or younger at the time of their wedding. There is very small difference between Hindu and Muslim families when it comes to marrying off their daughters at an early age.
As per law, the legal age for marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men. Any marriage below the stipulated age is considered child marriage. Other religion such as Christianity, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain are far better.
Only 6% were married before 18. Ranjana Kumari who is the Director of the Delhi-headquartered Centre for Social Research said, "This is shocking that even after decades and after prohibiting child marriage, the practice is so rampant in most parts." Another shocking data is 6% of Hindu girls were married even before 10 years.
In Muslims, the figure is 5%. As per census in 2001, 43% of women were married before 18 years of age. In 2011, the figure stood at 30%. It has to be noted that, The Child Marriage Restraint Act fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14, and boys at 18 years. By 2006 it was raised to 18 years.
