Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Although the law restraining child marriages in
India, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, was
enacted way back in 1929 with subsequent
amendment in 1949 and 1978, child marriages
are still rampant, particularly in low income
families.
[CUTTACK, 11 March 2005] - Custom is no longer the major reason of child
marriage in India; rather it is the poverty and insecurity in marginalised
families that contribute largely for early marriages of girl children in Orissa,
reveals a deliberation on laws to prevent child marriages organized by
CLAP (Committee for Legal Aid to the Poor), a legal support and advocacy
NGO.
Although the law restraining child marriages in India, the Child Marriage
Restraint Act, was enacted way back in 1929 with subsequent amendment
in 1949 and 1978, child marriages are still rampant, particularly in low
income families. One of the reasons for the improper implementation of the
child marriage restraint Act is the lack of monitoring and the unavailability
of institutional mechanisms under the Act to enforce it strictly.
The Government of India recently decided to amend the present Child
Marriage Restraint Act. A Bill in this regard has already been tabled in the
Rajya Sabha in the shape of the Prevention of Child Marriage Bill 2004. The
Bill proposes to declare child marriages as void, provision of maintenance
by the groom’s side to the minor girl until her remarriage, provision for
legitimacy, custody and maintenance of children born out of such
marriages, appointment of Child Marriage Prevention Officers by State
Governments and empowering state governments to make rules for
effective administration of the legislation.
In this context the CLAP - which is addressing the issue of child marriage
under its Project In Defence of the Child - hosted a deliberation, in which
Bikash Das, executive vice president of CLAP, stated that the issue of child
marriage should be brought under the juvenile justice framework, as
children who are given in marriages need immediate care and protection
from the State for their rehabilitation. The Child Welfare Committee
constituted under the juvenile justice framework can be the best institution
to continuously monitor and implement laws relating to child marriages and
prevent any kind of negotiation relating to child marriages.
Participants of the deliberation were unanimous that the Child Marriage
Restraint Act is a toothless law, which never got implemented since 1929.
15.4 per cent of Indian girls get married by the age of thirteen, 33.3 per
cent by the age of fifteen. So almost one third of the female population is
married even before they reach the legal marriage age. By eighteen years
of age, this figure reaches 64.6 per cent, at 20 it is 79.4 per cent, at 22 it
increases to 87.9 per cent, and at 25 it is 93.7 per cent, reveals the study
report of CLAP.
Early marriage, frequent pregnancies, and childbirth take a high toll on
girls; 13 per cent of deaths take place before women reach the age of 25,
due to complications in childbirth. Child marriages present several dangers
to the life and health of a female child, who find it difficult to withstand the
stress and strains of married life.
The deliberation was presided over by eminent Sarvodaya leader Sri
Shyam Sundar Das, who said child marriage prevention law should be
extended to all children irrespective of religion, race and tribe whether the
marriages are a sacrament or a contract. Participating in the deliberation
Sri Gobinda Sethy, Sri Bijoy Kumar Panda, Sri Sidheswar Mohanty opined
that the differential treatment of age of male and female children in the
Child Marriage Laws should be removed and a universal approach should
be adopted for persons below the age of 18 as such persons are defined
as children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which India
ratified in 1992.
For more information, contact:
Committee for Legal Aid to the Poor (CLAP)
367, Marakat Nagar, Sector-6 Cuttack 753014, Orissa, India
Tel: + 91 0671 2363980; Fax: + 91 0671 2363980
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.clapindia.org