By KUNA,
New Delhi : A new report released by UNICEF (United Nations Childrens Fund) has revealed that almost 80,000 women die in India during childbirth every year due to malnutrition and lack of pre-natal medical facilities in villages and remote areas.
The startling revelations also indicate that 45 percent of the women are married before they turn 18, and that around one million infants die every year, of which 40 percent die in the first week itself.
The legal age prescribed under Indian Constitution for girls in 18, while for boys it is 21. Underage marriages are a common sight in Indias backward states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. An ongoing TV serial “Balika Vadhu” (Girl Bride) depicting the state of underage married girls, has become an instant hit in India thereby creating awareness against the ill-practice.
The UNICEF report titled “State of the Worlds Children-2009 Report” highlights Indias high rate of child marriage as a major reason for the large number of maternal and infant deaths.
It said that high rate of child marriages in India is perhaps one of the reasons why women in developing countries like ours are 300 times more likely to die during childbirth than those in the developed world. Evidence shows that those who become mothers in their teens are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s, it added.