Increasing legal age of marriage to 21: Is it a boon or a bane for Indian women?
Live MintMahima was married off a few days after she turned 16. However, in 1978, an amendment was passed under the Child Marriage Restraint Act to increase the marriageable age for girls to 18. Now, to bring women on equal footing with men, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has decided to raise the legal age of marriage of women to 21 from 18 years. "The government states that this would bring gender equality in the country and will resolve other problems such as Maternal Mortality Rate, Infant Mortality Rate, poor health of women, etc but merely extending the marriage by two years without looking at other social factors cannot be the right way to change legislation," argues Anubha Rastogi. "If the legal age turns 21 then whether someone in a sexual relationship between 18-20, will be reprimanded or the age of majority will also change for girls to 21," Tuteja asked.