Tamil Nadu - Others   

Need to amend Child Marriages Act stressed

Staff Reporter

The SHRC chairperson held a closed door meeting with the district officials including the Collector, A. Karthik, in which the child marriage incident reported in Karur district was raised and details from the officials as to what they have done in the district to prevent such incidents were sought.

KARUR: The Child Marriages (Prevention) Act needs to be amended to give it more teeth to effectively deal with incidents and perpetrators, the Acting Chairperson of the State Human Rights Commission, S. Thangaraj, said here on Friday.

Interacting with the media, Mr. Thangaraj said the Act originally enacted in 1929 and subsequently amended 20 years later, needed to be updated, as lacunae still existed in several areas such as identifying the competent courts to try the cases and punishment to be awarded to the offenders, especially the guardians of the children involved.

Conceding that child marriages have been reported from various parts of the State including the Javvadu Hills in Thiruvannamalai, Tiruchi, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, the Nilgiris, Karur and Theni districts, Mr. Thangaraj observed that he was here to investigate the reported incident in which a youth lured a nine-year - old girl into marriage with sweet meat.

The SHRC was also investigating an incident of a 42-year-old man marrying an eight-year-old girl in Theni district.

The Supreme Court, on public interest litigation on child marriages, had included all the states as respondents and has called for suggestion on the action to be taken to tackle the issue.

Calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the Act, Mr. Thangaraj pointed out that the original Act envisaged 15 days imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 100 in 1929 while the 1949 amendment increased that to three months imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000 for the guardians.

The law also stipulated that the police should have taken action the offenders within one year of the marriage and that only a First Class Judicial Magistrate could try the case. That meant the culprits could get a maximum of only three years in jail. At the same time, awareness had to be created in child marriages prone areas and among community members, he observed.

Ritual of breaking coconut on heads

Asked what action could the SHRC take on the issue of devotees breaking coconuts on their heads at the Mahalakshmiamman temple at Mettumahadanapuram near here, Mr. Thangaraj said that technically the SHRC was not in a position to intervene directly but could set the ball rolling if it moved the High Court as a petitioner.

He clarified that the SHRC could take up direct investigation only if the perpetrator was a Government servant.

"We could only ask the district administration to look into the matter," he opined.

Concerned over the rise in boy-girl sexual relationships that split sooner or later, Mr. Thangaraj said that the accused boys in such incidents were now being charged under Sec. 376 (rape) and 317 (cheating) and added that needed a fresh look to the issue and to tackle them under more stringent laws.

In-camera meeting

Later, Mr. Thangaraj held a closed door meeting with the district officials including the Collector, A. Karthik, in which the SHRC chairman raised the child marriage incident reported in Karur district and sought details from the officials as to what they have done in the district to prevent such incidents.

It is pertinent to note that the SHRC chairman was in Karur to specifically investigate the incident.

Earlier, speaking to the media, he conceded that he was not in a position to call the guardians of the child involved for interrogation.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Need to amend Child Marriages Act stressed
Water release from Aliyar dam begins
Pondy police to form company to deal with calamities
Rag pickers hurt while handling metal device
Modern rice mill in Tiruvarur inspected
Eye donation
New water connections

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu