Irony on National Children's Day: 525 Child Marriages in Dompu, NTB

In the midst of commemorating National Children’s Day, which falls every 23 July, Dompu Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), is confronted with a concerning fact. Over the past four years, 525 underage children were forced into early marriage after becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

“All of them were pregnant, so they had to get married,” said the Head of Women’s Empowerment and Child Rights Fulfilment at the Dompu Office of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (DP3A), Yayat Nurhidayat, to detikBali on Thursday (23/7/2026).

According to DP3A Dompu data, the 525 cases of underage marriage were recorded from 2023 to 2026 and were spread across eight sub-districts. The year 2023 saw the highest number of cases, with 284 child marriages, making Dompu the regency with the highest rate of child marriage in NTB. In 2024, the number decreased to 152 cases. Meanwhile, 75 cases were recorded in 2025, and there have been 16 cases in the first quarter of 2026.

Yayat explained that underage couples who marry first apply for a marriage dispensation at the Religious Court, based on Supreme Court Regulation (Perma) Number 5 of 2019. Over the four-year period, there were 550 applications for marriage dispensation. Of that number, 525 were granted, while 25 were rejected. “Those who were pregnant were granted under Perma Number 5 of 2019. Those who were not pregnant had their dispensation applications rejected,” Yayat stated.