Friday

Prohibition of child marriage act & challenges

Let’s begin with some statistics - according to the State of the World’s Children-2009 report prepared by UNICEF, 47% of Indian women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before the legal age of 18. If the figure of 29% for the urban areas seems alarming, then that of the rural areas at 56% is almost insane.

According to the same report, 40% of the world’s child marriages take place in India. What are the consequences? According to Karin Hulshof of the UNICEF, “Child brides become mothers long before their bodies are physically mature for pregnancy. The younger a girl is when she gets pregnant, the greater the health risk to her and her child.” She believes child marriage prevents many girls from continuing their education, leaving them unaware of the risks and responsibilities of pregnancy and that they would be less likely to seek medical attention and immunise their babies. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 are also five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s.

The stats prove the validity of her statements. India’s maternal mortality rate (in 2005) was an outrageous 450 per 100,000 live births, compared to just 8 per 100,000 in the developed world. The neonatal mortality rate was 39 per 1,000 live births, more than ten times the rate in the developed countries. Clearly, child marriages are extremely detrimental to the physical and mental health of women, children and society as a whole. The very fact that such a primitive social practice is so widely prevalent in the 21st century is a shame.

Mediæval Indian societies were plagued by several despicable social practices. Thanks to the efforts of many social reformers who were influenced to a great extent by the modern, progressive, secular education introduced by the British, laws were enacted by the colonial government to prevent some of these regressive practices. Child marriage was one of them. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, that was passed in 1929 by the British Indian government, fixed the minimum age of marriage as 14 for girls. This Act, and a few subsequent modifications to it, were replaced by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, which set the minimum age as 18 for females and 21 for males.

Child Bride Cartoon

This Act is now facing its acid test in a case being heard by the Bombay High Court. A 14-year old Muslim girl was to get married in December. However, her uncle filed a complaint with the police, citing a violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. The police who produced her before the Child Welfare Committee, then placed her in a children’s welfare home.

The girl’s mother, a woman called Zakia from Aurangabad, moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the action of the police as Muslim Personal Law allowed the marriage of girls who had attained puberty. After the government lawyer argued that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 applied to all citizens irrespective of religion, Zakia’s lawyer has challenged the validity of the Act, arguing that it violates the freedom of religion. The Court is still hearing arguments in the case.

It’s a disgrace that a mediæval practice like child marriage exists in any society in the 21st century. What’s more disgraceful is that regressive forces are seeking to justify and seek legal sanction for such a practice under one pretext or another. When efforts are being made to drag societies back into the Stone Age, it’s upto all progressive minded people to oppose such a move. The High Court in Mumbai has a delicate task at hand, trying to balance what seems to be contradicting ideals - preventing a regressive social practice and guaranteeing the freedom of religion at the same time.

Written by An alien Earthling