India, April 17 -- Practice of 'gate-cane weddings' convert adolescent girls into wives and labourers

Sugarcane industry and cyclic droughts are aggravating early-age marriages in Marathwada, a research revealed.

The region in Maharashtra is historically prone to drought due to recurring dry spells, loss of livelihoods, which often results in mass migration of locals as sugarcane cutters in the various parts of the state.

A research paper Gate-Cane: (Un)tying the knots between climate, cane, and early marriage in rural India published in March revealed how drought years have increased child marriages and pushed farm labourers to become sugarcane cutters due to distress as a climate adaptation strategy.

'Gate-cane wedding' is a term us...