The Supreme Court verdict that physical relationship with minor girls even after marriage amounts to rape came as a boost for chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has recently launched a campaign against child marriage and dowry.

Sex with a minor wife aged between 15 and 18 years is criminal, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday which was kicked off on April 10 this year by the chief ministerThe programmes include stories on Gandhi being read out in schools and pamphlets with Gandhian thoughts being distributed to every household by literacy mission workers in the state. The aim is to make the younger generation aware of the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi.

Nitish said child marriage results in stunted growth of children and is a danger for minor mothers while giving birth.

'Dowry and child marriages are interlinked. Girls are married off at a tender age because their parents fear that they will not be able to pay dowry if they get the girls married after she has become an adult,' he said. He said while atrocities against women are low, Bihar comes second after UP when it comes to dowry cases.

He spoke for an hour on Mahtama Gandhi's life and mission. He pointed out that during Gandhi's stay in Chamapran, quite a few noted lawyers accompanied him and he noticed they had food cooked separately due to untouchability prevailing in those days. The first thing he did was to ensure that food for persons accompanying him was cooked at one place.