NEW DELHI, India, OCT. 11, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Archbishop Vincent Concessao reacted with alarm over the worsening situation of women in India, given the Delhi High Court’s decision to accept marriages contracted by 15-year-olds.
The court order came in connection with three separate cases wherein minor girls, at least 15 years old, had eloped and married men of their choice and the girls’ parents lodged kidnapping cases against their sons-in-law, reported the Indian episcopate’s ICNS news service.
Last Wednesday the High Court declared «valid» the marriages contracted between children aged 15.
The judges said the act cannot be contested if it takes place «by free will» because the 15th birthday is «the age of personal discretion» and therefore such a union would be «valid, enforceable and recognizable in courts of law,» said AsiaNews, an agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
«I am concerned,» Archbishop Concessao told AsiaNews. «The status of women in our country will deteriorate further. It is worrying that a girl of 15 years will have to assume the responsibility of wife and mother, whilst still a child herself.
«In today’s context, a girl has to be able to look after herself in case of any eventuality, and a girl cannot do so at 15. She may not even have completed basic school education.»
For his part, John Dayal, the president of the All India Catholic Union, which represents 16 million Indian Catholics, said that at «15 years, some girls would have just attained puberty, but others would not. Marriage at this age means an assault on reproductive organs which are often not yet mature.»
The National Commission for Women reacted angrily to the court decision. Its chairwoman, Girija Vyas, said: «The government should appeal against the decision. … Child marriage is a big problem in our country. You should see the plight of child widows.»
