India lays out controversial bill to raise women’s marriage age

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has presented new legislation in parliament, seeking to raise the legal age at which women can marry to 21 from 18, a move that rights activists say will do little to change long-held social mores and instead penalise adult women.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment Bill was introduced in the lower house of parliament Tuesday amid protests by opposition politicians. It has been sent to a parliamentary panel for further scrutiny.

The government says the bill intends to bring greater social, economic and educational benefits for women and lower maternal and infant mortality rates. Critics argue that laws alone are not sufficient to fix problems in a still-conservative society where marrying young women at an early age remains the norm.

India has held 18 as the age women can marry since the 1970s, even though the legal bar for men is higher at 21. Despite the existing law, underage marriages are still common, especially in the South Asian country’s vast rural hinterland.

Every third child bride in the world is in India, with more than 100 million girls getting married even before they turn 15, according to 2019 data from the United Nations Children’s Fund.