The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Women and Children Affairs Ministry completed the scrutiny of the ‘Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2016’ on Wednesday.
The committee at its 31st meeting scrutinised the bill thoroughly and finalised its report to place it in the House, said a Parliament Secretariat handout.
The meeting was held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with committee head Rebecca Momin in the chair.
Committee members State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze, Fazilatun Nessa, Amina Ahmed and Monowara Begum attended the meeting.
On December 8 last, the ‘Child Marriage Restraint Bill was placed in Parliament keeping girls’ minimum age for marriage at 18 with a provision for the marriage of underage girls in special cases.
According to section 2 of the bill, any male who is yet to complete 21 years or any female who is yet to complete 18 years will be considered underage for getting married. When one or both are underage, this will be defined as ‘child marriage’.
However, as per section 19 of the proposed law, if any marriage takes place in line with the directives of a court and consent of the guardians alongside specific process in special context in the best interest of an underage female, such marriage will not be considered as an offence.
