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Child Marriage
The Indian Government accepts 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys as the minimum legal age requirement to get married. Any marriage that does not adhere to the minimum age limits is considered child marriage. The term ‘child’ itself tells us about it. In India, the practice of child marriage was abolished in the year of 1929, although after that the minimum age limit for girls was set to 14 which is still very young. Post this, many reformers and social activists like Raja Ram Mohan Roy criticized this practice during the British rule but it is still prevalent in certain rural and socially backward areas of the country.
Child marriage affects both the partners but definitely affects the bride more adversely as compared to the groom. Getting married as a child for a girl equals to remaining uneducated, no schooling or further studies, obviously no job because one isn’t educated enough and one’s in laws also would not permit for the same, a very high risk of pregnancy related issues due to bearing a child at a very young age, hence no independence and no freedom or liberty in life’s decisions. Another very harmful after-effect of child marriage nowadays is the high probability of girls becoming victims of marital rape or domestic violence.
Firstly, why is a girl’s legal age for marriage as low as 18 and for boys, as high as 21. The discrimination against women can be seen starting right from here. Just to provide fuel to the society’s misogynistic stereotypes that makes one feel that the bride should always be younger to the bridegroom; one spoils the entire life of the woman concerned. On top of that, those young girls who do not even know what life is going to be like after getting married, are completely oblivious of the fact that they will never be able to live life on their own terms, or fulfill their dreams and ambitions. The worst part is, their parents push them into this deep grave, despite knowing the consequences. The usual outcome is known by all; multiple unhealthy and diseased offsprings, negligible income of the family, just one woman looking after the household, lack of basic amenities, no education or information on health and hygiene, poor standard of living, or in the worst cases even homicide or suicide. Hence, we must now put a strict stop to this otherwise the anyway discriminate sex ratio will stoop down to deep levels.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat