Cabinet of Ministers of India approved a proposal to increase the minimum age of marriage for women. This is reported to The Hindu with reference to the former chapter of the Samata Party, the head of the target group of four people who prepared the project, Jaya Jaitley.
The Government decided to equalize the marriage age of women with age men and raise it from 18 years to 21 years. The draft on amending the Law on the Prohibition of Children’s Marriages will be sent to parliament at the current winter session.
Jaitley explained the reasons for developing amendments. According to her, the introduction of girls in marriage at 18 years old deprives them of the opportunity to go to college, while men manage to prepare for adulthood and start earning. “We have to give them (girls) the opportunity to earn and be equal to a man. She cannot become equal at 18, when the man has 21 years for this,” the head of the target group said.
According to Sputnik agency, many Indian ministries supported the proposal, stating that women should be at least 21 years at the time of the first pregnancy.
In 2019, the Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia established a ban on marriages to 18 years. For marriage, under the age of 18, the decision of the Special Court is required, which will establish whether the marriage corresponds to the real interests of the adolescent and will not hurt her or him. “