Do you agree with the Delhi HC judgment that a girl over 15 can marry willfully? Here are the facts.
- A girl above 15 can marry willfully and the marriage is "valid, enforceable and recognizable in the courts of law"
This judgment was passed in the context where minor girls eloped with persons of their choice and charges of kidnapping were leveled against the men concerned. They had to face stiff sentences. The court has advised that this judgment must be exercised with extreme caution.
Well personally I do not agree. Although I am no big lawyer, but this is taking the process of free will a bit too far. The Age of Discretion has been specified as when a person is able to exercise his or her decision with "intelligence". Although the age of discretion is fine at 15. But I think at this age the maturity is not there. Obviously the discretion is fine, but the discretion may or may not be based upon logic, but rather may be based on emotions and feelings of the particular individual. Also at this age both boys and girls face hormonal changes, which can impair their regular thought flow process. So what discretion are the HC talking about?
But I agree that the men who elope should not be fined either. Love is blind (the High Court actually quoted this !!), so it is unfair for only the men to suffer. What is required is effective counseling from parents first and then maybe by institutions later on. This judgment may have other ramifications. One example is, if the courts see the age of 15 as an O.K. age for exercising discretion, then why is the age of voting 18 ? That age too should be lowered to 15. This is just one example that I am able to think of, maybe there are other serious ramifications.
Please comment on it. And if possible please leave your e-mail addresses too. It would be nice to have a discussion on this topic
Debayan
2 comments:
Well i don not agree on this as at this age there are very less less chances that the girl is completely mature, she is unaware of the world and its cruelty. And she should actually take herparents or gaurdians support specially in such matters as this deccision is going to decide what will be her future.and apart from taht why should the male be punished Love is actally blind. and no one knows what happens next.
Hmm lets see....
The men should be punised dear. I may agree to the fact that the girls may not know what they are doing. But I shall assume that if the man is an adult (a.k.a. major), then he does know what he is doing. And so by asking a 15 year old girl to elope with him, he has committed an offense. Now all of you who want to blame it on love, please go ahead. Even if you want to lynch me im standing right here. But, an older guy (or gal for that matter) eloping with a young gal (15 is very young, 25 is another thing) is not love. It will border on lust 8 cases out of 10.
As far as the girls are concerned, it is the parents who should make sure that they bring up their kids in such a fashion that they can talk to them on whatever they want. A kid should be made to feel that he or she has a parent who will listen to their problems as a friend (not as a parent). Then you can be sure that none of those 15 year old girls is gonna run away from home.
Just my 2 cents.....
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