Say no to child marriage to defeat poverty- Chief Inspector Stella Niabi
Stella Niabi,Chief Inspector of Police at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit in the Upper West Region has urged Chiefs and Opinion leaders to stop giving out young girls in marriage.
According to her, the incidence of child marriage has the tendency of increasing poverty in the society.
She was convinced that poverty will be reduced to the barest minimum if child marriage is nipped in the bud.
Chief Inspector Stella Niabi made this known during the relaunch of end child marriage by Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) at Dondoli in the Wa Municipality.
She revealed that about five to six offenses can be drawn from the criminal code which talks about the compulsion of marriage.
“Chapter 5 of our constitution Article 28 speaks mainly about the right of the child. How are we protecting our children. How are we handling our children. Criminal Code Section 109 which talks about the compulsion of marriage. Many a times we contract such marriages thinking we can be free. We can take 6 or 5 offenses out of that one act.” she stated.
“It’s not just charging you on child marriage and out of that, we will be taking defilement out of it because; you have had sex with a child under 16. Defilement can attract from 7 to 25 years imprisonment depending on where the judge sits. We can bring physical abuses out of that equally.” She added.
She indicated that perpetrators of child marriage are not left out as they will be charged criminally if reported.
She described child marriage as criminality and questioned “ how can a 13 years old girl be given out as a mother or a wife.”
Chief Inspector Stella Niabi encouraged the gathering to say no to child marriage while lamenting over the dire circumstances that the child goes through as a wife and a mother.
