West bengal..According to Jogesh Burman, Minister for Welfare of Backward Classes, extreme poverty and lack of education could be triggering early marriages.. Interestingly, the Government has failed to find time in the last thirty years to make a data bank of the number of deserted women in the State. The officials do not rule out a link between poverty-driven child marriages and the rise in "immoral trafficking" in the State. Officials say a rise in the number of child marriages in Kolkata which tops with about 53 per cent child marriage. Ironically enough, despite tall claims made by the West Bengal Government towards eradication of child marriages, a little more than 37 out of every 100 girls are married off before they reach the age of 18 as per UNISEF.
