NCW: Fix single age for girls' marriage
11 Jul, 2010 0331hrs IST TNN
[ Himanshi Dhawan ]
NEW DELHI: What is the marriageable age for a girl in India? Well, there is no straight answer to this question, thanks to legal loopholes.
Now, in a bid to dispel doubts, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked the government to consider bringing uniformity in the 'marriageable age' and 'age of consent' for girls. The need arises because of the disparity in laws and contradictory court judgments.
Both the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, do not term a marriage between a girl below 18 years and boy below 21 years as "illegal" but recognize such unions as void and voidable (that is, there are grounds to quash it in a court of law, if challenged).
In recent times, however, there have been judgments — where the courts allowed a girl below 18 years, in one case as young as 13 years, to go to her husband respecting her discretion or "age of consent", even though she was yet to attain the legal age of marriage.
NCW has noted that courts in recent years have been only relying on a minor married girl's discretion on whether she wants to live with her parents or go to a protection home.
NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said, "We will ask the government to make the marriageable age of women uniform in all laws. Our petition is already before the court but we would like to press upon the government to clear the confusion and also ensure registration of all marriages."
Vyas said this was the only way to discourage child marriages that are rampant across the country.
According to the National Family Health Survey-3, over 47% of women in the age group of 20-24 years had been married by the time they were 18 years.
The court judgments, which held marriage of girls under 18 years to be legally valid, only add to the existing confusion regarding the marriage of a minor and highlight the disparity.
For instance, Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, stipulates the marriageable age for both boys and girls. However, Section 11 leaves this clause out of the purview of the courts as far the legitimacy of a marriage is concerned.
Also, the explanation to Section 375 of the IPC provides that sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape if she is 15 years or more. This acknowledges that it is possible to marry a girl, albeit a minor, even if she is 15 years or more.
NCW also plans to renew its demand for compulsory registration of all marriages.
11 Jul, 2010 0331hrs IST TNN[ Himanshi Dhawan ]
NEW DELHI: What is the marriageable age for a girl in India? Well, there is no straight answer to this question, thanks to legal loopholes.
Now, in a bid to dispel doubts, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked the government to consider bringing uniformity in the 'marriageable age' and 'age of consent' for girls. The need arises because of the disparity in laws and contradictory court judgments.
Both the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, do not term a marriage between a girl below 18 years and boy below 21 years as "illegal" but recognize such unions as void and voidable (that is, there are grounds to quash it in a court of law, if challenged).
In recent times, however, there have been judgments — where the courts allowed a girl below 18 years, in one case as young as 13 years, to go to her husband respecting her discretion or "age of consent", even though she was yet to attain the legal age of marriage.
NCW has noted that courts in recent years have been only relying on a minor married girl's discretion on whether she wants to live with her parents or go to a protection home.
NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said, "We will ask the government to make the marriageable age of women uniform in all laws. Our petition is already before the court but we would like to press upon the government to clear the confusion and also ensure registration of all marriages."
Vyas said this was the only way to discourage child marriages that are rampant across the country.
According to the National Family Health Survey-3, over 47% of women in the age group of 20-24 years had been married by the time they were 18 years.
The court judgments, which held marriage of girls under 18 years to be legally valid, only add to the existing confusion regarding the marriage of a minor and highlight the disparity.
For instance, Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, stipulates the marriageable age for both boys and girls. However, Section 11 leaves this clause out of the purview of the courts as far the legitimacy of a marriage is concerned.
Also, the explanation to Section 375 of the IPC provides that sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape if she is 15 years or more. This acknowledges that it is possible to marry a girl, albeit a minor, even if she is 15 years or more.
NCW also plans to renew its demand for compulsory registration of all marriages.
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