Child marriage

Sir, - It is heartening to see that the Union Government has at last taken an interest in child marriage. Both the first and the second National Commissions for Women, first chaired by Ms. Jayanti Patnaik and then by Ms Mohini Giri, had recommended the forthwith abolition of child marriage. But to no avail. As a member of the legal experts committee in both of them I hope the time for its abolition has come.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act is perhaps the only Act in the world which says that something - in this case child marriage - is legal and yet an offence. The first problem is that most people may not even know that child marriage is an offence. When they do learn about this Act it only confuses them. The second obstacle is that of many activists. They argue that child brides will be abandoned by their husbands and their lives will be ruined, forgetting that the girl's life is already ruined by early marriage. They counsel patience, saying that child marriage will slowly die out.

The only way to tackle this situation is by a mix of law and practical steps. First step is to abolish child marriage. The second is for every State Government to publicise the law widely. The State must stress the fact that

Your girl (or boy) is still not married.

The state will confiscate the dowry.

The girl will still be your responsibility.

You will not get a daughter-in-law to do free manual work.

Instead, all four parents and guardians, the priest and the adult guests will be punished.

In short, we need a law that is as draconian as the Sati law.

In Rajasthan child marriages are performed in thousands on the festival day of Teej which falls in summer before the rains. In Bihar the big day is Maha Shivratri. One location is the Shiva temple at Deoghar, also known as Baidnathdham.

Other States must have their special days when the lives of the little girls and little boys are sealed by their families. This fact is no secret. On the contrary, it is public knowledge.

Before that day in the year arrives the government must step up its efforts to broadcast this information. Prevention is always better than the cure. If we were to introduce free universal compulsory education (FUCE) up to the age of 14, as the Constitution enjoins us to do, the incidence of child marriage will most certainly go down. The law will only be needed to catch the most obstinately intransigent but for some reason we shy away from FUCE.

In the existing scenario the cure is the option at puberty for the girl. The Hindu boy has no such option. He can of course always abandon his wife and marry bigamously, ruining three lives.

Firm administrative action must accompany any legal measures. Otherwise we shall have one more meaningless law on the statute book.

Vasudha Dhagamwar,

New Delhi

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