Some early marriage victims say they suffer from various ailments
“When I was only ten years old, parents gave my marriage with a man who was 24 years older than me,” said Rumi of Barguna at a view-exchange meeting at a hotel in the city yesterday.
“I was always afraid of facing my husband at night as he behaved with me just like a beast (poshu)
Within four months of my marriage, my first menstruation happened and I got pregnant within a year,” said Rumi, who has been suffering from malnutrition problem for long.
Not only Rumi, victims of early marriage like Shila and Maksuda from the capital, Shahima from Dinajpur, Parul Akhter from Sunamganj, Nupur Akhter Nipa from Barishal, Akhter Banu Rashida from Lalmonirhat and Armina from Rangpur also exchanged their views with the lawmakers, development workers at the meeting.
They all shared their agony of early marriage and early pregnancy. Most of them have been suffering from different types of physical ailments including anemia and fistula.
Lawyers and right activists urged the government to amend the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 to make the law more efficient. Terming the law backdated, they said the law only said child marriage is a punishable offence, but there is no provision for invalidating the marriage.
Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury, state minister for women and children affairs, as the chief guest said the child marriage still exists in our society and it is not possible to stop it by the government alone. “Everyone should come forward to stop child marriage which is a curse for a girl,” she said.
Lack of awareness of local government and local administration functionaries the child marriage can not be eliminated from the country, said Hashanul Haq Inu, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the post and telecommunication ministry.
He also emphasised inclusion of elaborate curriculum on the bad effects of child marriage in school textbooks.
Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain said the child marriage restraint Act is backdated and the probation of punishment is insufficient in the current context.
She said the government should punish the qazis so that they would be more careful about the age of the bride and bridegroom.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) State of the World’s Children 2009 report, more than 64 percent of girls marry before their 18 years of age.
Early marriage causes for early pregnancy, and deaths from childbirth related complications and obstructed delivery, said experts. The legal age is 21 for male and 18 for female in the country.
Parents encourage early marriage fearing increasing dowry, social insecurity and poverty, said speakers at the meeting titled “interface on gaps in child marriage law and implementation process.”
Meher Afroze Chumki, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on the women and children affairs; Mohammad Abbas Uddin, deputy director of IRC, Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB); KM Tarek, acting director general of FPAB; Anwar Hossain Shikdar, acting country director of Plan Bangladesh and Prof Mozammel Haque Talukder of FPAB, among others, spoke at the meeting.
