A shocking statistics have revealed that Kerala, known for its high literacy rate, also has a large number of mothers (22,552) aged below 19 years, reports India Today.

The report, released in February 2019, was published by the state's economic and statistics department reflected data from 2017 has shown that child marriage is prevalent in the state and has also busted the myth that Kerala is a matriarchal society.

According to the report, 4.48 per cent of live births in Kerala in 2017 was delivered by mothers between the age of 15 and 19. In urban areas, 16,639 live births were by mothers of this age group, whereas in rural areas it was 5,913.

Religion-wise, 17,082 mothers of the total number, within the age bracket of 15-19 years, belonged to the Muslim community, 4,734 to Hindus and 702 to Christians.

In urban areas, 298 mothers had their second delivery before they attained the age of 19, and 21 had their third child before they turned 19.

In 2017,137 mothers in rural areas gave birth to their second child before the age of 19. Surprisingly, almost 48 mothers gave birth to their third baby and 37 mothers delivered fourth babies, below the age of 19. The report has a mention of 11 mothers below the age of 15.

The report also shows that 17,202 were either matriculate or below graduate level; 3,420 did not mention their education, while 86 were reported illiterate and 91 received below primary level education.

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