The legal age for both marriage and consensual sex in India is 18 years, though the government is attempting to increase the age of marriage for women to 21 years. But deep fault lines have emerged in the debate on whether higher legal age limits will lead to gender justice or merely provide punitive solutions for complex social problems such as child marriage and adolescent sex.
A Bill introduced in Parliament in 2021 to increase the age of marriage for women to 21 years has been virtually put on the backburner; on Monday, the Parliamentary committee examining the Bill got its sixth extension in three months.
Now, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports will have time till October 24 to examine the issue and present its report on The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
