ENS

Hyderabad, Mar 7: If you think a 100 lies are permissible to perform a wedding, you are mistaken.

Imprisonment awaits all those who attend, support and even perform the marriage of a girl below 18 years of age. This is the new Amendment made to the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act.

Under the new provisions, elders, relatives, friends, guests, catering personnel, the priest who performs the marriage and other outsourcing agencies who support the wedding will be put behind bars, according to Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhary.

Briefing media here today, the minister said the new Amendment had already come into force. However, till date no case has been reported to the Ministry.

But the Ministry was keen to review the situation in the country every year, she pointed out.

"Earlier, the Act mainly focussed on prevention aspects of child marriages. Now, we are talking about prohibition," she explained.

Another major concern is the alarming rate of female foeticide confronting the country.

Already, the impact of female foeticide is being felt in States like Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab where men are finding it difficult to marry.

In some cases, men are moving to States like Kerala and bringing girls from there for marriage.