Himachal Pradesh Approves Legislation to Increase Women’s Marriage Age to 21

The 2024 Bill seeks to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

On August 27, the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly passed a Bill to raise the minimum marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years.

The Bill, called the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Act, 2024, will update the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

“It is proposed to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and other related Acts in their application to the State of Himachal Pradesh and increase the minimum age for marriage for girls to 21 years,” the Bill states.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 was established to ban child marriages.

Under this law, the minimum marriage age is 18 for women and 21 for men.

The new Himachal bill aims to raise the minimum marriage age for women to 21 to promote gender equality and address how early marriages can hinder women’s career advancement and physical development.

“In today’s world the women are progressing in every field. The early marriages, however, act as a hindrance not only in the progress of their career but also in their physical development. In order to provide for gender equality and opportunities of obtaining higher education, it has become necessary to increase the minimum age of marriage for the girls,” the bill states.

Amendments in the 2024 Bill are as follows:

Under Section 2, the age definition of a child is now anyone under 21 years old, instead of 18.

Section 3(3) has been updated to extend the time for canceling a marriage that happened before the legal age from two years to five years after reaching adulthood.

The Bill also says, “A petition can be filed anytime, but must be done before the child reaches two years after turning 18.”

It also adds Section 18A, which means this Act will be more important than any other existing laws.

The provisions of this Act shall have effect, notwithstanding anything contrary or inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force, including any custom or usage or practice governing the parties,” the provision states.