The Hindu : Enact law for compulsory registration of marriages: SC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

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Enact law for compulsory registration of marriages: SC

By Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi Aug. 25. The Supreme Court today suggested to the Centre to enact legislation for compulsory registration of marriages in the country to prevent the menace of child marriage taking place in many States.

A Bench comprising the Chief Justice V.N. Khare and Justice S.B. Sinha asked the Additional Solicitor-General, Mukul Rohtagi, to indicate to the court in six weeks whether registration of marriage could also be made compulsory by amending the Hindu Marriage and Special Marriage Acts.

The Bench gave this suggestion during the hearing of a petition filed by Forum for Fact Finding, Documentation and Advocacy highlighting the plight of young girls being married off by their parents even before they reached the age of puberty.

The Bench opined that one way of curbing the practice was to make it mandatory for all to register their marriage under which one was obliged to give their age at the time of marriage.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Colin Gonsalves cited the example of Sri Lanka where after the registration of marriage was made mandatory, the marriageable age of girls had gone up by three years.

He said the Collector and the Superintendent of Police should be made accountable for the enforcement of the ban on child marriage provided under the laws.

The petitioner said that when a girl was married off at an early age, she becomes an object of exploitation, both sexually and physically by her in-laws.

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