Civil society and NGOs must work together to prevent child marriages, said Girija Vyas, chairperson of National Commission for Women, today.

"If we are to stop child marriages then there is a need for strong implementation of the laws, and awareness," Vyas said, talking to reporters here.

"Civil society should play its role in preventing the practise," she said.

It is an alarming fact that in Madhya Pradesh, 73 per cent of girls are below 18 at the time of marriage, followed by Andhra Pradesh (71 per cent), Rajasthan (68 per cent), Bihar (67 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (64 per cent), she said.

In certain communities in two Kerala districts, child marriage prevails despite high level of literacy in the state, Vyas said, adding, "Women in Kerala want the marriage age to be raised to 21 for girls from 18, and 24 for men from 21."

The main reasons for child marriage are age-old superstitions and illiteracy, she said.

"The child marriage has ill-effects on both body and mind. In spite of government's intervention there are reports of child marriages taking place. To prevent this inhuman practise, we need to train anganwadi workers, mobilize NGOs, sensitise village panchayats, politicians, and officers of law and order," Vyas said.

Efforts should be made to eradicate social taboos and superstitions, to spread education to remote areas, punish those who are supporting this practise and create employment opportunities for people in remote villages as parents are bound to marry off their children early because of poverty, Vyas said.

Vyas said that cases of rape in the country increased from 18,349 in 2005 to 22,000 in 2009. Cases of molestation increased from 34,000 to 39,000. In 2005, the figure of dowry deaths stood at 6,000, in 2009 it rose to 9,000. The cases of dowry harassment rose from 58,000 in 2005 to 90,000 in 2009.

Cases of kidnapping of women increased from 15,000 to 26,000 in 2009.

"Women should not suffer. She should not be treated as an object, but as a human being," she said.