Speakers at a function stressed the need for creating awareness among the common people to check child marriage to build a better society.“Incidents of child marriage are still happening in the society before the age of 18 creating alarm for the nation although Marriage Acts disallows marriage before the age of 18 for girls”, they said.They made the comments while addressing an awareness meeting on prevention of child marriage and narcotics at Char Jatrabari Friendship Weaving Center of Kurigram Sadar upazila recently.Kurigram district information office arranged the function under the programme of the implementation of vision 2021 at union level in cooperation with Friendship Bangladesh, a reputed NGO in the country.Deputy Commissioner (DC) ABM Azad addressed the function as the chief guest and Sadar UNO Aminul Islam, and director of Legal Compliance and Governance of Friendship Bangladesh Barrister Ayesha Taasin were present as the special guests.With union parishad chairman Abdul Gafur in the chair, the function was also addressed, among others, by district information officer Abdus Salam, team leader of good governance project of Friendship Bangladesh Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman, and district coordinator of the organization Nurunnabi Khandkar.After getting married the adolescent girls become mothers for which they face various health complications including malnutrition and even die during the delivery due to severe bleeding infections, obstructed labour and consequence of unsafe abortion, the speakers added.DC ABM Azad in his speech said the government took safe motherhood programme aimed at reducing maternal mortality rate to achieve millennium development goals by 2015.Terming child marriage and early pregnancy as the vital causes of maternal death, the DC laid emphasis on creating mass awareness through conducting different publicity programmes to root out child marriage for ever from the society. -BSS, Gaibandha
