Shillong, Nov. 12 : In an attempt to speed up formulation of Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, the state government has invited suggestions to the draft bill within two weeks.
The draft bill was posted recently on the state government website inviting suggestions.
The issue had figured in the last Assembly session in September.
Shillong-based NGO Mait Shaphrang Movement has also been pursuing the compulsory registration of marriage in the state for many years and it wanted the state government to enact a separate law on marriage registration.
According to the chairman of Mait Shaphrang Movement, Michael Syiem, a strong act was required to tackle the problem of broken marriages.
UDP legislator Ardent Basaiwmoit, who had raised the issue for the last three years in the Assembly, said there was a rise in number of child marriages and broken families in the state in the absence of any compulsory marriage registration.
According to Basaiwmoit, most of the marriages in the state were not legal since people were still following the traditional methods of marriage.
He said a majority of people chose not to solemnise or marry under the provisions of different personal laws like the Indian Christian Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Muslim Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act.
Basaiwmoit said it was found that cohabitation was a very common practice among the indigenous population in the state, which has no legal sanction in the court of law.
The legislator said there were incidents in the state where child marriages are taking place without any check, affecting the future of girls who give consent to such marriages.
He said recently the Supreme Court, moved by the plight of women fighting for their rights under wedlock, ruled that all marriages should be registered in order to prevent child marriages, check bigamy or polygamy, help women to exercise their right to maintenance from husband and custody of children and enable widows to claim inheritance.
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