The Muslim League’s women’s wing has opposed the proposed measure to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 in a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him not to make a ‘hasty’ decision. on the important social issue.
The letter, written by the secretary of the Indian Union Women League, PK Noorbana Rasheed, says that raising the age of marriage will give way to “cohabitation relationships” and “illegitimate relationships.”
She said that when many developing countries lowered the legal age of marriage from 21 to 18 in consideration of biological and social needs, it is not appropriate for India to make a hasty decision in favor of raising the legal age of women to marry.
He said that instead of implementing the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriages Act in letter and spirit, attempts to raise the minimum age for marriage for women were unfair.
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“There was a report recently, that in rural areas, 30% of women marry before their 18th birthday. What is the point of making such a decision when existing laws are not implemented effectively? “she asked. Last year, Kerala had reported about 300 cases of underage marriages.
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He said that a proper discussion was needed before reaching a decision. However, the Muslim League said the party had not yet taken a formal position on this issue and that the position of its women’s wing was independent.
The central government had formed a 10-member team under Jaya Jaitley to consider raising the age of women to marry. It recently presented its report recommending raising the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21.
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