Child Marriage Law: Joy defends special provision

Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy defended incorporation of a "special provision" into the draft Child Marriage Prevention Act 2016 allowing wedlock of girls below 18 in special circumstances, saying such provisions were there in the advanced countries like the United States as well.

 

"Our revision of the law only allows marriage of a girl under 18 with parental and court consent in exceptional circumstances . . . this is exactly the same as the law across the USA," he Joy wrote on his Facebook page today, reports BSS.

 

He added: "If these exceptions are OK in the US, why are they not OK in Bangladesh?"

 

The comments of Joy, also the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, came as the different quarters have expressed concerns over the daft "Child Marriage Prevention Law 2016" that incorporated a new provision for special marriage.

 

Citing the example of marriage laws in the United States, Joy said "I wanted to share this summary of marriage laws in all of the 50 states of the United States of America, as published by Cornell Law School, one of the topmost law universities in the world".

 

Joy wrote almost every single state allows girls under 18 to get married either with court or parental consent. "The minimum age varies, with some states as low as 12 years of age and one state with no minimum age. Court consent is often contingent on pregnancy, etc," he said.

 

"This goes against the arguments of those who are criticizing our current Child Marriage Prevention Act," he said.

 

The cabinet on November 24 gave its final approval to the draft of "Balya Bibaha Nirodh Ain, 2016" (Child Marriage Prevention Act-2016) suggesting strict punitive actions against marriage between boys and girls who are below 21 and 18 years respectively.