By The Editor
Marriage is considered to be union of two adults, male and female, not only of bodies but also of minds and souls. From time to time acts and rules had been framed by government authorities to restrain minors from entering into marriage bond so that relationship between partners would be stronger and last longer. Various laws have been enacted in India to prevent child marriages. Child Marriage Restraint Act, commonly known as Sarda Act, came into effect in 1929 and at that time was applicable only to British India, restricting marriages of girls below age 12 years and boys below age 15 which was finally raised to 14 and 18 respectively. By an amendment of the Act in 1949 legal minimum age at marriage for females was raised to 15. According to Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1978, minimum legal age at marriage in India is 18 years for females and 21 years for females which was also accepted on December 13, 2006 by Rajya Sabha. Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, 2004 also provides for appointment of child marriage prevention officers by state governments. In case of such marriages being declared null and avoid, his guardian will have to pay maintenance to minor girl till she attains at least 18 years of age and remarriage.
As per medical research, child marriages are the primary causes of high maternal and infant mortality rates. Assam as well as other North Eastern (NE) States of India including Meghalaya have high percentage of marriages in prohibited ages. On January 23, Assam Cabinet gave signal to police to crack down on child marriages across the state which will start immediately within 15 days. Men who marry girls below 14 years will be booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and those marrying girls in age group 14-18 will be booked under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Child Protection Officer will be appointed in every village and it will be the duty of Gram Panchayat secretary to file complaint against any child marriage taking place in their area.
Till date, Karnataka is the only state in India which has appointed child marriage prohibition officers and so far the state has been able to prevent about 11,000 child marriages and booked as many as 10,000 couples. Assam will also take action against parents who encourage child marriages and priests who conduct them. According to National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) carried out between 2019 and 2020, 31.8 per cent of women aged between 20-24 years in the state were married before legal age of 18 years which is higher than national figure of 23.3 per cent. Among women aged between 15-19 years who were married 11.7 per cent of them were already mothers or pregnant during survey period compared to national figure of 6.8 per cent. This shows that child marriages are very high in Assam.