By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Sept 11:
While the Union Government is in the process of reconsidering the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years to lower Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and improve nutritional levels, the child marriages are still held clandestinely across the country.
A plan to conduct the marriage of two teenage girls was foiled by alert social workers in Nanand village located in Yavatmal district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra on Wednesday. The parents of the two girls-aged 14 and 15 years, had arranged their marriages. The full preparations were made, a pandal was set up, food was prepared and a priest was also ready to complete rituals.
However when a local resident got the wind of the plan, he promptly alerted the Child Helpline. Soon a team of District Child Protection Office accompanied by police, reached the venue. The team members verified the age of the girls and handed them over to the District Child Welfare Committee.
The grooms, middle men and the parents of the girls were warned that the strict action would be taken against them under the Prevention of Child marriage Act 2006 and the offence shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment up to two years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both. The team also explained to the parents that the marriage of a girl below 18 years and the boy below 21 years, cannot be arranged and this is for the better future of their children.
The team which foiled the marriage included-District Child Protection Officer Devendra Rajurkar, Police Inspector Ravindra Maskar, Head constable Arjun Rathod, Police Naik Sachin Raut, Home Guard Subhash Dhomnar, ASHA worker Kaushalya Markad and Anganwadi sevika Vanmala Khadse among others.
Since the police were busy in COVID-19 induced lock down, nearly 18 marriages were stated to have been held in Yavatmal in the last few months. If these two marriages were not to be foiled, the number of child marriages, during ongoing lock down could have reached up to 20 in Yavatmal, sources said.
In the meanwhile a task force set up on June 2, by the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development, to examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, is in the process of preparing its report. The centre will take the decision after the report is submitted.
While India’s MMR has seen a decline from 130 per 1 lakh live births in 2014-2016 to 122 per 1 lakh live births in 2015-2017 — a decline of 8 points (6.2%) — the government is now pushing to bring down this rate further.
The minimum age of marriage for men and women was initially introduced to combat child marriages. Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 for the groom. Child marriages can be declared void at the request of the minor. In Islam, the marriage of a minor, who has attained puberty, is considered valid. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively.
A legal framework on the age of consent for marriage in India only began in the 1880s.
In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, set 16 and 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys, respectively. The law, popularly known as “Sarda Act” after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and a member of “Arya Samaj”, was eventually amended in 1978 to prescribe 18 and 21 years for women and men, respectively.
