TULSIPUR: The Lumbini Province Police Office, Dang has initiated a campaign for prevention and minimisation of child marriage in the province.

The Province Police has launched a 15-day campaign beginning today for minimizing under-age marriage, informed Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Raj Kumar Baidawar, at Province Police Office, while citing the phenomena has been reported widely throughout the province in recent days.

According to SSP Baidawar, all the police offices in 12 districts of the province will reach out to targeted groups and run programmes aimed at prevention and control of child marriage, effective implementation of the existing laws against child marriage through joint collaboration with the general public, local levels, media, civil society and the stakeholders.

Programme has been started with the objective of raising public awareness that child marriage is illegal, of taking legal action against those involved in arranging the child marriage and of enhancing collaboration for the police campaign, SSP Baidawar said.

The campaign will run from today till November 13.

Forty-nine cases of child marriage have been reported to the police in Lumbini Province in the last three fiscal years.

Police said nine cases of child marriage were reported in fiscal year 2019/20, twenty-two in fiscal year 2018/19 and 18 cases of child marriage in fiscal year 2017/18.