From ‘voidable’, child marriage to become illegal
The Centre is planning to amend a law that will make all future child marriages illegal, according to senior government officials familiar with the matter. The legal age for marriage in India is 18 for a woman and 21 for a man.
Currently, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, recognises child marriage as valid, but “voidable” if the minor opts out. But very rarely do under-age brides complain or seek annulment of their marriage.
To address the inconsistency, the Union women and child development (WCD) ministry has decided to amend the law and make child marriage “void ab initio” or invalid from the outset.
“The proposal has been approved by the WCD minister Maneka Gandhi. We have sent it to the law ministry for vetting. Once law ministry clears it, we will move the Cabinet,” a senior WCD ministry official said.
The Act makes contracting a marriage by a man who is over 18 years with a girl under 18 years a cognisable and non-bailable offence, punishable with twoyear imprisonment and fine of ₹1 lakh.
Experts, however, said the law has failed to rein in the age-old regressive practice where young girls are forced to undergo sexual violence after they are married off to older men.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 326 incidences of child marriages were reported in India in 2016. But government officials concede that’s just the tip of iceberg. As per Census 2011 data, almost one in every three married woman got married when she was under 18 years.
“These are just the cases that have been reported. There are many more that go unreported. The actual number of child marriages taking place in India is far more,” said another WCD ministry official, who did not want to be named.
Last year, Karnataka became the first state in the country to amend the central act to make child marriage “void ab initio”.
The Supreme Court cited the state’s example last October while criminalising sexual relations between a man and his minor wife. Jayna Kothari, executive director of Centre for Law and Policy Research, who as the counsel for Bengaluru-based Child Rights Trust argued for making child marriage void ab initio in Karnataka, said that the proposed amendment was long due. “Child marriage is rampant here because the law is completely toothless. It says that child marriage can be nullified by the minor contracting party, but it’s impractical to expect a minor to come forward and complain. The minor’s family also hardly comes forward to get the marriage annulled. The marriage becomes kind of fait accompli,” Kothari said.
According to Kothari, the proposed amendment will provide the fence needed to make child marriage invalid from the word go.