Legal provisions apart, education is the key to preventing child marriage
In a welcome verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) has decided that sex with an underage girl would not constitute rape if the boy and girl were married. This relieves the boy of the charge of rape, although he is still guilty of child marriage, which is punishable by law. The Supreme Court had made the ruling in November on an appeal made by one Santosh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Saptari, against the government, after his mother-in-law filed an FIR in Udaypur district, accusing him of rape, hostage taking and kidnapping. The girl from Udaypur, who is from a different caste, had eloped with Yadav when she was not even 16 years of age after a love affair for more than a year. But the two had proved before the Siraha District Court that they were happily married as wife and husband. The full text of the Supreme Court verdict was made public recently. The SC had overturned the Biratnagar High Court verdict – which had imposed an 11-year jail term on Yadav – and reduced the prison term to six months and a fine of Rs 10,000 as he is still guilty of child marriage. The SC verdict on Yadav's appeal is a landmark in that it differentiates between statutory rape and child marriage, where sex in the latter case takes place due to biological need and not done with a guilty mind. This has thus done away with the treatment of sex in child marriage as rape.
As per the Criminal Code of Nepal, both man and woman must have attained 20 years of age at the time of marriage, if it is not to be considered child marriage, which carries a jail term of upto three years along with a fine. Rape, however, carries a minimum jail sentence of seven years. But child marriage continues in the country unabated despite the harsh laws, with Madhes and Karnali having the highest incidence of child marriage among the seven provinces. More than a third of young women in Nepal aged 20-24 are said to have married by the age of 18, and just over one in 10 by 15. Thus, if the laws were to be strictly followed, a lot of people would have been cooling their heels behind bars. However, it is only when elopement of the girl is involved that some cases are reported to the police. Most child marriages take place with the consent of the parents of both the sides.
In an effort to curb child marriage, some local levels have made it mandatory for the parents to receive permission from their respective ward offices before their children can get married. The ward office will issue the permission based on the birth certificates submitted by the bride and groom. Although this was done with good intention, however, some legal experts have said it goes against the constitutional provision of free will marriage upon reaching the legal age. And it is discriminatory as it applies more to the rural areas than urban centres. Moreover, no one can stop young people from falling in love and deciding to live together and even challenge the rule of law if need be. Apart from the legal provisions and interventions by the governments at different levels, quality education is the key to preventing child marriage, especially taking place among the Dalits and marginalised communities.
Dengue disease
The rapid spread of dengue cases has claimed the lives of four persons in Sudurpaschim Province. One person died in Doti while three others succumbed to the vector-borne disease in Kailali district. As per the Ministry of Health and Population, eight persons lost their lives in Sunsari district in the month of July. The Health Directives of Sudurpaschim Province said 1,694 dengue cases had been confirmed in the hilly and Tarai districts of the far-west.
In order to bring the disease under control, all the local levels have been organising mosquito destroying campaigns and awareness programmes across the province. The disease spreads in the community during the rainy season when mosquitoes lay eggs in waterlogged areas, such as flower pots, ponds and dark areas. Dengue patients experience headache, fever, vomiting, weakness, stomach pain, eye ache, back pain, and joint and muscle pain. As the disease has no prescribed medicines, health workers have advised the people to stay safe by wearing long sleeves and trousers, using mosquito nets while sleeping, and destroy larvae in and around the human settlements. Last year, as many as 88 people had died from the virus while 54,000 were infected by it, which had spread to all 77 districts.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 7, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
