Assam crackdown on child marriage: What does the law say?

GS Paper  2

Syllabus: Social Justice: Issues related to Women

Source: Indian Express, Indian Express

 Context: More than 2,000 people have been arrested in a statewide crackdown on child marriages that have taken place in the state of Assam.

Data on child Marriage:

• UN estimates suggest that 1.5 million girls get married before they turn 18 in India.
• According to the 2011 census, 44 per cent of women in Assam were married before the age of 18. The figures for Rajasthan, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh were 47 per cent, 46 per cent, and 43 per cent, respectively.

Historical Perspective on Child Marriage:

• Ancient India
  • Manusmritis: It says that if the father fails to marry off his daughter within three years of her attaining puberty, she can find a spouse on her own.
    • Medhatithi, one of the oldest and earliest commentators on the Manusmriti, eight years is the right age for a girl to be given in marriage
  • The Rig Veda mentions garbhadhan– attaining the wealth of the womb. It is the first of the 16 samskaras a Hindu is expected to perform.
  • The Greek traveller Megasthenes (350-290 BC) has written that he was told that the women of the Pandian kingdom in South India bear children at six years of age. About seven centuries later, the Persian polymath, Al Biruni, wrote that child marriages were rampant in India.
• Modern India:
  • The colonial state: The Age of Consent Acts of 1861 and 1891 brought in reform in conjugal rights. The 1861 Act laid down 10 years as the minimum age for sexual intercourse. The Hindu intelligentsia opposed raising this age to 12 on the grounds that it violated norms related to garbhadhan.
  • Rukmabai case gave new impetus to the campaign of social reformers like M G Ranade and Behramji Merwanji Malabari. Rukmabai had refused to solemnize her marriage, which had taken place when she was 11.
• Post-Independence:
  • At the time of India’s independence, the minimum marriageable age stood at 15 years for females and 18 years for men.
  • In 1978, the government increased it to 18 for girls and 21 for men.
  • Years later, in 2008, the Law Commission came out with a report which stated that the minimum marriageable age for both men and women should be 18 years of age, as both are considered eligible to vote as citizens at the time.

Laws present to prevent Child Marriage:

• The POCSO Act, of 2012 criminalizes sex between a minor and an adult. The law does not recognize a minor’s consent as valid. Sexual assault under POCSO is a non-bailable, cognizable offence.
  • Section 19 of, the POCSO Act imposes a “mandatory reporting obligation” which requires every person who suspects or has knowledge of a sexual offence being committed against a child must report it to the police or the Special Juvenile Police Unit.
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, says that child marriages are illegal but not void. Instead, they are voidable at the option of the minor party, in the scenario that the minor petitions the court to declare the marriage void. The Act stipulates 18 years as the minimum marriageable age for women, while for men it is 21 years.
  • The punishment also extends to anyone who performs, conducts, directs, or abets any child marriage.

Central government’s stand:

• In 2021, the Central government sought to introduce the Prevention of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021, to raise the manageable age for women across all religions, from 18 to 21 years. However, the Parliament panel examining this is yet to submit its report.
• The establishment of the Jaya Jaitly Committee in June 2020, by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, submitted a report stating that the marriageable age for women should be increased from 18 to 21 years of age, in light of factors like reproductive health, education, etc.

Modern international laws and conventions on Child Marriage:

• The UN Convention on Consent to Marriage,
• Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962),
• The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)
• Beijing Declaration (1995)

Insta Links:

How is India planning to end child marriage

Prelims Link: UPSC 2020

Mains Link:

Examine the causes leading to the menace of child marriage in India. How can child marriage be prevented through a combination of Legislation, education, and government action?