Under the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, any marriage before the prescribed age is illegal and perpetrators of forced child marriages can be punished. In India, Muslim marriage is a civil contract between a man and a woman. The dissolution of marriage may take place at the instigation of the husband (talaq), the wife (khula) or the mutual (mubarat). Talaq allows a Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by mentioning the word Talaq. [11] Some Muslim groups recognize triple talaq (or talaq-i-biddat) by declaring three talaq at once and proclaiming immediate divorce as a valid method. [12] On August 22, 2017, the Supreme Court of India declared immediate triple talaq unconstitutional. [13] The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019, which declared immediate talaq illegal and void, came into force retroactively on July 19. September 2018, after the President of India gave his consent on July 31, 2019, and women can take legal action against her in court. [14] Officials say that even urban, wealthy parents marry their daughters prematurely.
HC Raghavendra, a member of the Karnataka Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, attributes this trend to the inability of officials to enforce existing laws. The Union`s cabinet decided on Wednesday (15 December) to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. The legal age of marriage for men is 21. Goa is the only state in India that has a UCC regardless of gender, religion or caste. Since Goa has a common family law, it is the only state in India with a unified civil code. Everyone, regardless of faith, Hindu, Muslim or Christian, must follow the same rules when it comes to inheritance, divorce and marriage. Marriage in Goa is a legal contract between two people of different sexes to live together and form a legal family registered at the registry office. The main argument for raising the age is the correlation with health and social indices such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and maternal and child nutrition levels. However, since the age of majority is 18, raising the age of marriage is considered by the State to be a paternalistic approach to an individual`s personal affairs. However, if a court considers that a minor has been compelled to marry by his or her parents or guardians, the provisions of the Juvenile (Care and Protection of Children) Courts Act come into force to retain custody of the minor until he or she reaches the age of majority and can make a decision on the marriage. The Committee also recommended that a broad awareness-raising campaign be conducted on raising the age of marriage and promoting social acceptance of the new legislation, which they believe would be much more effective than coercive measures.
Each religion has its own laws governing marriage and other personal practices for communities that dictate certain criteria for marriage, including the age of the bride and groom. First, the Prevention of Child Marriage Act is not working because: COVID phobia, financial problems and arrangements for simple marriages due to lockdowns, love stories due to access to mobile phones due to online courses, fear of abuse have led to an increase in child marriage since the beginning of the pandemic, Parents should also be made aware of child marriage laws and how girls are not physically prepared for childbirth at a younger age and are not mature enough to cope with family commitments, she said. HC Raghavendra, a member of the Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (KSCPCR), says existing laws are strict and those who violate the ban on child marriage face up to two years in prison with sentences of up to Rs 1 lakh. The 2006 Act is considered special legislation with the stated aim of preventing child marriage. Although specific laws are enforced via the common law, experts have often pointed out that there is a loophole in the law prohibiting child marriage, as it does not explicitly state that the law would prevail over the common law. The Special Marriage Act of 1954 and the Child Marriage Prohibition Act of 2006 also require that the minimum age of marriage be set at 18 and 21 years for women and men respectively. For the new age of marriage to be introduced, these laws would have to be amended. Dr. B R Ambedkar created the Hindu Code Bill to amend Hindu laws that allowed divorce, prohibited polygamy, and granted inheritance rights to girls. Despite strong opposition to the code, a watered-down form was enacted by four different laws. These politicians should also be held accountable.
Girls suffering after child marriage should become awareness-raising ambassadors, while awareness-raising programmes should also be adopted widely, he adds. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general overview of the human rights system for the limited purposes of this project. It describes how the system responds to the internal diversity between categories of personal law, the existence of a general family law, the possibility of avoiding evasion of personal law, the relationship between personal law and religious doctrine, and the interaction between the personal legal system and Indian constitutional law. in particular the protection of religious freedom. Another critical point is that raising the minimum age of marriage will bring many marriages even further to the brink of illegality and marginalize vulnerable parties. Since the existing law does not automatically make child marriage illegal, raising the minimum age may not really benefit women. This could bring those who support the marriage of a woman over the age of 18 within the scope of a law that punishes prison sentences of up to two years. The law prohibiting child marriage contains no provision that explicitly states that the law would prevail over other laws on the subject. The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS) found that child marriage in the country decreased slightly from 27% in 2015-16 to 23% in 2019-20, but the government has lobbied to further reduce this number.
The personal laws of different religions dealing with marriage have their own norms, which often reflect customs. The law imposes a minimum age of marriage to essentially prohibit child marriage and prevent abuse of minors. Basalingappa Niralkeri of the Belgaum Diocesan Society of Social Services says that in Dharwad district, some families in the Gosavi community practice such child marriages before girls reach puberty. “The petition under this section may be filed at any time, but before the applicant child has reached the age of majority for two years,” currently reads Article 3(4), which allows a woman to apply for a declaration of child marriage before the age of 20 and for a man before the age of 23. After that, the marriage is considered valid and the couple can file for divorce. The explanatory memorandum to the bill states: “In order to address women`s issues holistically, as a measure to empower women, ensure gender equality, increase women`s participation in the labour market, empower them to make their own decisions, the bill proposes, These include: (i) amend the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006 to strengthen its enforcement, which takes precedence over all other existing laws, including customs, customs or customs governing parties in marriage matters. Child marriages are illegal, but questionable at the discretion of the minor.