Married at 15, mom at 16. Courts say it's fine

[Guest guest]

Married at 15, mom at 16. Courts say it's fine

Kanchan Gupta

It's nice to know that our courts are at last willing to take note

of the fact that society has changed since the days when powdered

wigs and black robes came into vogue as symbols of judicial

authority.

The change is most visible among today's teenagers and twenty-

somethings who, to quote a judge of Delhi High Court, thanks " to

increased interaction between the sexes, " attain maturity rapidly.

The judge offered the comment in the context of runaway marriages

involving minor girls and adult men. The parents of two minor girls

who had run away with men, presumably their lovers, and later

married them, had complained to the police that their daughters had

been abducted.

When the runaway couples were produced in court, the girls claimed

that they had gone with the men and married them of their own

volition. One of the girls had by then given birth to a child.

In its wisdom, the court decided not to punish the men for

committing statutory rape - a crime no less horrific than any other

rape - because a 15-year-old girl can be said to have reached

the " age of discretion " . According to the court, the marriage of a

15-year-old girl is legally valid provided she enters wedlock of her

own free will.

That's a new definition for the official age of consent and a

judicial negation of the law that lays down the marriageable age of

women at 18. Neither fetches comfort for those of us who take a dim

view of men taking child brides, never mind whether the bride is a

willing or unwilling perversion of the law of the land.

Acknowledgement of rapidly changing social values and at times

disconcerting teenage attitude towards life and sex does not mean a

radical overhaul of laws that have been designed to protect

vulnerable young adults. Nor does it call for a judicial endorsement

of reel life being replicated in real life, often by girls who grow

up on a steady diet of women-are-born-to-breed-and-serve bunkum.

The Delhi High Court has now asked the Government to take a fresh

look at the Child Marriage Restraint Act and the Hindu Marriage Act,

and remove anomalies between the two as well as to drop penalty

clauses that make taking a child bride a punishable offence.

Hopefully, better sense will prevail.

Soon after the amazing ruling of the High Court, a friend brought

together a group of girls at a 'Children's Court' where they shared

their views on child marriage and the High Court's observations and

judgement.

One of them, Neha, said, " This age is to read books and not to wear

a veil. " Poor Neha, if only she knew what those in authority think

of " this age " - for them, not only is a 15-year-old girl old enough

to marry, but also breed like a brood mare.

Funnily enough, there has been no outrage, no outcry. Is it because

a child's cry of anguish is too feeble, a girl's appeal for help too

faint? Or have we as a society become immune to abuse and its

legalisation?

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[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

While one can refer to Recommendation on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for

Marriage and Registration of Marriages in accordance with the provisions of

article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/64.htm), let us examine what's happening

elsewhere in the world and its social and legal acceptability.

A man faces 50 years for marriage to 14-Year-old reported Associated Press on

13th Dcember in Falls City. This 22-year-old man pleaded guilty to a sexual

assault charge filed after he impregnated and then married a 14-year-old girl,

and he could face up to 50 years in prison.

Koso legally married the girl in Kansas, which has no minimum age for

marriage, after she became pregnant. The girl, Crystal Koso, now 15, gave birth

on August 24 to a 7-pound, 1-ounce girl named Samara. Nebraska, however,

requires people to be at least 17 before they can marry and prohibits people 19

or older from having sex with anyone under age 16.

Koso had pleaded not guilty in August. As he left the courtroom with his wife,

he would not say why he changed his plea.The Associated Press generally avoids

naming victims of sexual assault, but the couple has spoken freely about the

charges, and the girl's name has been widely reported. His attorney, Willis

Yoesil, said he believed possible Koso could be sentenced to probation. He would

not say why he advised Koso to change his plea.Nebraska Attorney General Jon

Bruning said his office would not make a recommendation to the judge about

Koso's sentence. Sentencing was set for Feb. 7. The judge ordered a pre-sentence

investigation, which would include an evaluation of Koso's mental capacity.

Bruning filed first degree sexual assault charges against Koso in July. Bruning,

who was criticized by some for pursuing the case given that the sex was

consensual and the couple eventually married, defended his decision.

" The law clearly states that it is illegal for a grown man to have sex with a

child, " he said. Assistant Attorney General Matt Enenbach said that evidence

would show that Koso had sex with Crystal when she was 13. After the girl became

pregnant, her mother gave permission for Koso to take her daughter across the

state line to Hiawatha, Kan. There is no minimum age for marriage in Kansas, but

state law requires anyone under 18 to have permission to marry from both

parents, a guardian or a judge. Koso's lawyer, Yoesil, has said the girl's

mother and Koso's parents approved of the marriage. The girl's father has not

lived with the family for some time.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius recently said she was asking legislators to

establish a strict ban on marriage involving anyone younger than 16. The

governor said the legislation also should retain the requirement for parental or

judicial consent for anyone age 16 or 17.

In a related development ABC News reported a Georgia woman is facing child

molestation and statutory rape charges for allegedly sleeping with her son's

15-year-old friend is defending their relationship.

Lynette and the boy she married using a loophole in Georgia law that

waives parental consent and age requirements for a teenager to marry if the

bride is pregnant. will be eight months' pregnant with the couple's child

when she is arraigned on Dec. 21.

" From the beginning he told me and my children he was 17 and I didn't want to

date him then and I told him 'no' repeatedly, " said. " I finally agreed. …

I wasn't even comfortable in public with him at first because of his age, and,

but, you know we got along so well. Everything. He was just so nice. "

The boy's grandmother and legal guardian, Judy Hayles, said she was outraged

when she discovered love letters written by to her grandson.

" She said we wanted, she just wanted us all to be family, " Hayles told " Good

Morning America " in an interview last month. " I said: 'I have a family. I don't

need one with a pedophile in it.' " remains out on bail awaiting her day in

court. She is adamant that her relationship is not a mistake and that she does

not deserve to be punished. " I can't really say what's right or wrong, "

said. " From the beginning of time up until the 1900s that wasn't a moral issue. "

The fact about children's cry of anguish being too feeble and their appeal for

help too faint is quite obvious and does not require any elaboration. The issue

in question is not legalisation rather it is about what is socially acceptable

and what is legally acceptable and does not require much intelligence to

comprehend that they two different things. Legally and constitutionally we are a

" socialist " country but socially is it a reality?.

Gopal Krishna

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