BJP MLA from Kalol, Fatehsinh Chauhan, said registration of marriages in cases when a girl ties the knot with the man of her choice without the consent of her parents adds to the crime rate of the state. (Credits: Shutterstock)
Leaders have urged the Gujarat government to make the signature of parents be made mandatory for the registration of a marriage, amending the Hindu Marriage Act
MLAs from BJP and Congress have demanded the Gujarat Legislative Assembly that the signature of parents is made mandatory for the registration of ‘love marriages’ and that the document be recorded in the same taluka where the couple would live, according to reports on Friday.
BJP MLA from Kalol, Fatehsinh Chauhan, said registration of marriages in cases when a girl ties the knot with the man of her choice without the consent of her parents adds to the crime rate of the state.
“Marriages solemnized without the consent of parents add to the crime rate in the state and if such marriages are registered with the consent of parents, the crime rate would come down by 50 per cent. Court marriages are registered not in the respective area but in other districts,” he was quoted as saying by Times of India.
He urged the government to amend existing laws and make it compulsory to have the consent of the parents for court marriages. “There are several cases in Kaalol where girls have been lured by anti-socials and kidnapped.” To save them, such an amendment is necessary, he claimed.
Congress MLA from Vav, Geni Thakore, said the demand for making adequate changes in the law regarding love marriages in the Hindu Marriage Act has been raised for a while and said while leaders are not against love marriages as a whole, but to ensure that the girls do not face harassment in the future.
“We are not against love marriage but we want the change to ensure that no boys who do not get girls for marriage or have criminal backgrounds lure girls and marry them, and as this leads to harassment of the girl who has to suffer in the end,” she said.
She further demanded marriage procession to come to the girl’s house as is customary and demanded that a rule to be added to the Act, making it compulsory for the registration of the marriage to be done with eyewitnesses from the girl’s family at the taluka where she resides.
Meanwhile, law minister Rushikesh Patel refrained form commenting on the demands made by the MLAs.
The demand for the state government to add provisions for the mandatory signature of parents on marriage registration in the existing Hindu Marriage Act for cases of love marriages was raised by the Members of the Patidar community in Gujarat last year.
The community had raised by the community in a bid to prevent the cases of “Love Jihad” and the instances in which girls from the community are targeted for the property owned by their families.
R P Patel, president of Vishva Umiya Dham and convener of Patidar Organisation Co-ordination Committee, an umbrella organisation of 18 different Patidar bodies, such as Khodaldham and Samast Patidar Samaj had raised the demand in June, 2022.
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