Child marriage

CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA
BY SAPNA SHARMA

CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA
Child marriage in India, according to the Indian law, in
a marriage where either the woman is below the age of
18 or the man is below the age of 21. Most child
marriages involve girls, many of whom are in poor socio-
economic conditions. The Census of India has counted
and reported married women by age, with proportion of
females in child marriage falling in each 10 year census
period since 1981. In its 2001 census report, India stated
zero married girls below the age of 10, 1.4 million
married girls out of 59.2 million girls aged 10–14, and
11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls aged
15–19. Several states of India have introduced incentives
to delay marriages.

INDIA
Child marriage is a complex subject under Indian law. It
was defined by The Child Marriage Restraint Act in
1929, which set the minimum age of marriage for
females to be 14 and males 18. The law was opposed by
Muslims of British India by the Muslim Personal Law
Application Act of 1937, which implied no minimum
limit and allowed parental or guardian consent in case
of Muslim marriages. The Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act of 2006 defines "child marriage" means a marriage,
or a marriage about to be solemnized, to which either
of the contracting parties is a child; and child for
purposes of marriage is defined based on gender of the
person - if a male, it is 21 years of age, and if a female,
18 years of age.

WORLD
UNICEF defines child marriage as a formal
marriage or informal union before 18 years of
age, because it can lead to a lifetime of
suffering for girls who are more likely to
experience domestic violence or die due to
complications in pregnancy and
childbirth. UN Women proposes that child
marriage be defined as a forced marriage
because they believe children under age are
incapable of giving a legally valid consent.

UN AND OTHER ESTIMATES
• The small sample surveys have different
methods of estimating overall child marriages
in India. For example, NFHS-3 and NFHS-4 data
for 2005 mentioned in below table, used a
survey of women aged 20–24, where they were
asked if they were married before they were
18. The NFHS-3 also surveyed older women, up
to the age of 49, asking the same question. The
survey found that many more 40-49 were
married before they turned 18, than 20-24 age
women who were interviewed.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT
ESTIMATE
• The states with highest observed marriage rates for
under-18 girls in 2009, according to a Registrar
General of India report, were Jharkhand (14.1%), West
Bengal (13.6%), Bihar (9.3%), Uttar Pradesh (8.9%) and
Assam (8.8%). According to this report, despite sharp
reductions in child marriage rates since 1991, still 7%
of women passing the age of 18 in India were married
as of 2009
• According to 2011 nationwide census of India, the
average age of marriage for women is 21.2.

CRITICISM
Several activists have expressed scepticism regarding the
decline in child marriage cases in India. They believe
that 'the UNICEF report might not be reflecting reality
on the ground and the numbers are likely not as low as
they appear in the report'. In India, the government
ask about the age of bride and groom as a part
of census data, which is collected every year.
Dhuwarakha Sriram, child protection specialist at
UNICEF India, says that "everyone knows that there is
underreporting in India - even the UNICEF is aware of
it". According to Sriram, people are aware of the illegal
age of marriage in India, so they are less likely to tell

THE CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT
ACT OF 1929
The Child Marriage Restraint Act, also called the Sarda Act, was
a law to restrict the practice of child marriage. It was
enacted on 1 April 1930, extended across the whole nation,
with the exceptions of some princely states
like Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. In 1949, after
India's independence, the minimum age was increased to 15
for females, and in 1978, it was increased again for both
females and males, to 18 and 21 years, respectively. The
punishment for a male between 18 and 21 years marrying a
child became imprisonment of up to 15 days, a fine of
1,000 rupees. The punishment for a male above 21 years of
age became imprisonment of up to three months and a
possible fine.

THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD
MARRIAGE ACT, 2006
In response to the plea (Writ Petition (C) 212/2003) of the
Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy at the
Supreme Court, the Government of India brought the
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) in 2006, and it
came into effect on 1 November 2007 to address and fix the
shortcomings of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. The
change in name was meant to reflect the prevention and
prohibition of child marriage, rather than restraining it. The
previous Act also made it difficult and time consuming to act
against child marriages and did not focus on authorities as
possible figures for preventing the marriages. This Act kept
the ages of adult males and females the same but made
some significant changes to further protect the children.

APPLICABILITY
• Muslim organizations of India have long argued that Indian
laws, passed by its parliament, such as the 2006 child
marriage law do not apply to Muslims, because marriage is a
personal law subject. The Delhi High Court, as well as other
state high courts of India, have disagreed. The Delhi Court,
for example, ruled that Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,
2006 overrides all personal laws and governs each and every
citizen of India. The ruling stated that an under-age
marriage, where either the man or woman is over 16 years
old, would not be a void marriage but voidable one, which
would become valid if no steps are taken by such court as
has option[s] to order otherwise. In case either of the
parties is less than 18 years old, the marriage is void, given
the age of consent is 18 in India, sex with minors under the
age of 18 is a statutory crime under Section 376 of Indian
Penal Code.

LEGAL ACTION ON LEGAL
CONFUSION
There is a standing legal confusion as to Marital Rape within
prohibited Child Marriages in India. Marital rape per se is not a
crime in India; but the position with regard to children is
confusing. While the exception under the criminal law (section
375, Indian Penal Code, 1860) applicable to adults puts an
exception and allows marital rape of a girl child between the age
of 15–18 years by her husband. However this provision of
exception has been read down by the Supreme Court of India in
the case of Independent Thought v. Union of India in October,
2017 and it declares that sexual intercourse with all wives below
18 years of age shall be considered as rape; another new and
progressive legislation Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, 2012 disallows any such sexual relationships and
puts such crimes with marriages as an aggravated offense.

CEDAW
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an
international bill attempting to end discrimination
against women. Article 16, Marriage and Family
Life, states that all women, as well as men, have the
right to choose their spouse, to have the same
responsibilities, and to decide on how many
children and the spacing between them. This
convention states that child marriage should not
have a legal effect, all action must be taken to
enforce a minimum age, and that all marriages must
be put into an official registry. India signed the
convention on 30 July 1980.

CONSEQUENCES OF
CHILD MARRIAGE

EARLY MATERNAL
DEATHS
Girls who marry earlier in life are less likely to be
informed about reproductive issues, and
because of this, pregnancy-related deaths are
known to be the leading cause of mortality
among married girls between 15 and 19 years
of age. These girls are twice more likely to die
in childbirth than girls between 20 and 24 years
of age. Girls younger than 15 years of age are 5
times more likely to die in childbirth.

INFANT HEALTH
Infants born to mothers under the
age of 18 are 60% more likely to die
in their first year than to mothers
over the age of 19. If the children
survive, they are more likely to
suffer from low birth
weight, malnutrition, and late
physical and cognitive development.

FERTILITY OUTCOMES
A study conducted in India by the International
Institute for Population Sciences and Macro
International in 2005 and 2006 showed high
fertility, low fertility control, and poor fertility
outcomes data within child marriages. 90.8% of
young married women reported no use of
a contraceptive prior to having their first child.
23.9% reported having a child within the first year
of marriage. 17.3% reported having three or more
children over the course of the marriage. 23%
reported a rapid repeat childbirth, and 15.2%
reported an unwanted pregnancy. 15.3% reported
a pregnancy termination.

VIOLENCE
Young girls in a child marriage are more likely to
experience domestic violence in their marriages
as opposed to older women. A study conducted
in India by the International Centre for Research
on Women showed that girls married before 18
years of age are twice as likely to be beaten,
slapped, or threatened by their husbands and
three times more likely to experience sexual
violence. Young brides often show symptoms
of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress.

PREVENTION PROGRAMMES IN
INDIA
• Apni Beti, Apna Dhan which translates to "My
daughter, My wealth," is one of India's
first conditional cash transfer programmes
dedicated to delaying young marriages across the
nation.In1994, the Indian government implemented
this programme in the state of Haryana. On the
birth of a mother's first, second, or third child, they
are set to receive 500, within the first 15 days to
cover their post-delivery needs. Along with this, the
government gives 2,500, to invest in a long-term
savings bond in the daughter's name, which can be
later cashed for 25,000, after her 18 birthday.

Child marriage

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