Blitz Bureau
THE Kerala High Court has ruled that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, is applicable to every citizen of this country irrespective of his or her religion as every Indian is a citizen first and then becomes a member of a religion.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan in a recent order on a petition to quash a case registered in 2012 in Palakkad against a child marriage, said irrespective of religion, whether a person is Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi etc., the Act is applicable to all. The petitioners, including the father of the then minor girl, contended before the court that being a Muslim she enjoys the religious right to marry after attaining puberty, i.e., at the age of 15.
“A person should be a citizen of India first, and thereafter only his religion comes. Religion is secondary and citizenship should come first. Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that, irrespective of religion, whether a person is Hindu, Muslim , Christian, Parsi etc., Act 2006 is applicable to all,” the court said in its July 15 order.
It observed that child marriages deny children their basic human rights, including the right to education, health and protection from exploitation and early marriages and pregnancy can lead to health problems such as infant mortality, maternal mortality and sexually transmitted infections.
