The article commences by analyzing the debate surrounding the adjustment of the legal age for marriage in India, focusing specifically on women. The impact of child marriage on women’s empowerment and gender parity is also discussed. Various connected topics are emphasized such as the Jaya Jaitly task force, child marriage and women’s empowerment.
The Legal Background of Minimum Marriage Age in India
In India, the first law to prescribe a minimum age for marriage was the Sarda Act of 1929, later renamed as the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA), 1929. The CMRA was revised in 1978 to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18 for women and 21 for men. This regulation remains unaltered under the new law known as the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act (PCMA), 2006, which succeeded the CMRA, 1929.
Existing Laws on Minimum Age for Marriage
Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the prescribed age for a bride is 18 years and for a groom it’s 21 years. In Islam, however, a minor who has attained puberty is legally valid to marry. Both the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 endorse 18 and 21 years as the minimum age for women and men to marry, respectively. For any adjustments in the marriageable age, amendments are expected to be made to these laws. Notably, in 2021, the Union Cabinet proposed an increase in the legal marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years.
The Impediments of Underage Marriages for Women
Child marriage is a violation of human rights, rendering girls almost invisible to policy makers and depriving them of fundamental rights like education, rest and leisure, and protection from mental or physical abuse. This includes protection from sexual exploitation and rape.
The Consequences of Child Marriages
Child brides are often unable to finish their education, leaving them dependent and disempowered, which hinders the achievement of gender equality. Other repercussions of child marriage include teenage pregnancy, stunted child growth, population increase, unsatisfactory learning results for children and a decrease in women’s workforce participation.
Teenage wives often suffer from social isolation, domestic violence, and lack of decision-making power within the household due to their low domestic status. They are also subjected to long hours of domestic labour, malnutrition, and anaemia. Poor education, malnutrition and early pregnancies can result in their babies having low birth weights, thereby continuing the cycle of malnutrition across generations.
The current laws on marriage are age-centric and do not provide exception for children of any specific religion. The classification based purely on ‘puberty’ lacks scientific validation and reasonable correlation with the ability to marry. A person who has attained puberty may be biologically capable of reproduction, but it doesn’t imply that they are mentally and physiologically mature enough to engage in sexual acts and bear children.
