Child marriage is legally prohibited. Under the law age limit below 18 years for the girls and below 21 years for the boys are deemed as child or minor. Marriage of child or minor is legally prohibited. And who will conduct the marriage of minors he will also be equally guilty. As a result of child marriage, the number of pregnant child is higher in Bangladesh than other countries in Asia. According to research findings of Population Fund of the United Nations one of three is got married under 13 years in Bangladesh. At such level of age, one of each ten gives birth to child. 64% child daughters get married before 18 years. In Bangladesh every year 2000 child daughter die from the complicacy of the pregnancy. It is a matter of great concern. Due to some socio-economic reasons we push our child daughters to disease and death by giving them untimely marriage at their childhood age. Childhood age is the time of formation of their body. During this age if they become pregnant their body formation is interrupted. Consequently, during conception of offspring complicacy is arisen and death occurs to both mother and child. In one meaning, death occurs to two children.
A male person of more than 21 years cannot marry a girl of age below 18 years. Who will disobey this law he will suffer one month jail and a fine of 1000/- Taka. The court may sentence both jail and fine at once. Who will conduct the marriage of minors he will also be equally guilty. The convicted person will suffer one month jail or give a fine of 1000/- Taka. The court may give penalty of both jail and fine at the same time. The parents those will give marriage to their minors they also be sentenced jail and fine. Penalty of this offence will be one month jail and 1000/- Taka fine. If anywhere there is arrangement of child marriage anybody can complain to the court.
Law regarding child marriage
- Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929
- Dowry Prohibition Act
- Women and Child Repression Control Act 2003
- Birth and Death Registration Act 2004
- Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010
During October 2007 to December 2007, BITA conducted the study with a view to identifying the real causes and consequences of early marriage in Bangladesh. The study covered six administrative divisions of Bangladesh including rural and urban areas. A number of qualitative tools/methods such as in depth interview, focus group discussions, survey, and case studies were used to collect data. Form field visit it appears that prevent early marriage in a short period of time is not an easy task, it needs time and appropriate approaches to way forward.
Early Marriage is nothing new in Bangladesh; it is deeply embedded in the impoverished and traditional cultural settings. The prevalence of early marriage, therefore, will not disappear quickly. A holistic and multi faced program with a long term vision and mission both at the national level and the local level is a dire need to protect the children.
The findings of the study offer a number of implications for improving the effectiveness of policy and programs to address early marriage and its consequences. Both preventive and protective approaches are required to uproot the custom and norms of earl marriage from the society. A set of recommendations formulated for Government, donor agencies, national and international NGOs and community would fit into the preventive and protective approaches.
Marriage Registrar Training
Under the BC-TIP project BITA organized Training for Marriage Registrar on Child Marriage at Patiya Upazila under Chattogram district. There were total 21 participants (all were male) attended in this training. The concerned Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) was present in this training in the opening session. As marriage registrar play a sacred & significant role in our society. Many people look up to them for their role in the society. Because of their sacred role in the society they can also play a significant part in preventing child marriage. The main objectives of this training are To create awareness about Child marriage issues, To know about the effect of child marriage in our society, To get knowledge & idea about Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 & other laws related to the child marriage, To discuss how child marriage can be a reason of human trafficking and To identify the problems of Marriage registrar & how to solve it. Discussed about Child marriage & the superstitions regarding child marriage issues in Bangladesh. The subject of the training was how Child marriage can led to human trafficking & gender based violence, Child marriage restraint Act 2017, Muslim Marriage & Divorce Registration Act 1974, Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012, Christian Marriage Registration Act 1872 & Court marriage, who are accountable & who have responsibility under Child Marriage Restraint Act, High Court Division Rule regarding preventing Child marriage, Finding out the problems marriage registrar faces while trying to stop child marriage, how we can safeguard victim & at-risk of child marriage & what can we do to prevent child marriage and what kind of step we should take for preventing child marriage. Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Patiya Upazila Mr. HABIBUL HASSAN inaugurated the training. He stated that, “Marriage Registrar plays a sacred role in our society by binding a man & women in a sacred bond. The Kazi’s can play significant role in preventing child marriage. They should provide us information so that we can take proper steps. I. So whenever they face any problem regarding Child marriage issues they can provide the news to the UNO & he will take care of it .I would also like to thanks USAID, Winrock International & BITA for providing this kind of training for our Marriage Registrar as they are being capacitated on this issue also for all kind of awareness program relating to Child marriage, GBV & TIP.”