PM is urged by Madhes girls not to reduce the legal marriage age
Teenage girls from Madhes Province have petitioned PM KP Sharma Oli to keep the minimum marriage age at 20 years old as discussions about lowering Nepal’s legal marriage age heat up. Adolescent girls from eight districts in Madhes Province made individual requests to the PM voicing their concerns about the proposed lower legal marriage age of 18 years from 20. They contend that 18-year-olds lack the mental and physical maturity necessary to manage societal, familial, and circumstantial obligations. The letter, addressed to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, was sent by teenage girls from different clubs in Dhanusha through the District Post Office. Lowering the marriage age could have a detrimental effect on girls’ education, health, and future, Pratima Yadav cautioned.
She also voiced worries that it might cause them mental anguish and keep them from becoming independent. According to Nepal’s Constitution, child marriage is illegal and a violation of children’s rights. 20 is the legal marriage age under the Civil Code, and those who violate it risk up to three years in prison and fines of up to Rs 10,000. The subcommittee pointed out that the law’s stringent enforcement has had unforeseen repercussions, especially when young couples live together before they are of legal marriageable age. Lowering the marriage age is opposed by women’s and children’s rights activists, who contend that tenacious advocacy led to the creation of current legal provisions. They contend that changing these laws would impede the advancement of women’s, children’s, and human rights protection.
