Minimum age of marriage

According to Indian law, a child marriage occurs when either a girl or boy is under the age of 21. The majority of child marriage involves females, many of whom are from law- income families. In India, child marriage is so common.

It was in 1929, under Indian law made child marriage illegal. However, the legal minimum age for marriage in British colonial time was 14 for girls and 18 for boys.

The child marriage restraint act, commonly known as the sarda act, was enacted to prevent children from marrying. It was passed on 1 April, 1930 and it covered the whole country, with the exception of a few states such as Hyderabad and Jammu& Kashmir. The age of marriage was set at 18 for boys and 14 for girls. In 1937, a personal law sharia act was established in undivided British India, over the objection of Muslim groups, which allowing minor marriage with the approval of girl’s guardian The act was revised twice after India’s independence in 1947. In 1947, the minimum legal age for girls rose to 15 and in 1978, it was raised to 18 for girls and 21 for boys.

Consequences of child marriage

Infant health

Infants born to moms under the age of 18 are 60% more likely than those born to mothers over the age of 19 to die in their first year. If the kids make it, they’re more likely to have low birth weight, malnutrition, and delayed physical and cognitive development.

Violence

In comparison to older women, young girls in child marriages are more likely to face domestic abuse in their marriages. According to a research undertaken by the International Centre for Research on Women in India, girls who marry before the age of 18 are twice as likely to be beaten, slapped, or intimidated by their husbands, and three times more likely to be sexually abused. Symptoms of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder are common among young brides.

The legal age for women marriage being raised to 21 years

In India, the government has proposed to raise the minimum marriage age for women from 18 to 21 year old. We’re doing this to give them more time to study and advance. This is a decision that the country is making for its girls “After the Prohibition of Child Marriage [Amendment] Bill was introduced in parliament on 21 December, 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated.

The goal, according to the government, is to offer women with equal chances by providing them more time to finish their school, find work, mature psychologically before marriage, and achieve gender parity.

Do you agree with the move to increase the age of marriage for women to 21 years?

~By Shakshi Kataria