RANCHI: With an aim to prevent rampant child marriages in the district, age-proof of both bride and the groom has been made mandatory for booking banquet halls and getting marriage invitation cards printed by the district administration in Ranchi.
The District Administration has asked all the stakeholders like a banquet hall, catering and printing press owners to ensure that both bride and groom are adults by demanding their age-proofs before the marriage at the time of booking. The stakeholders will also be held responsible if any such marriage takes place with their assistance, the administration said.
“We have asked all the stakeholders like banquet hall owners, caterers, tent house owners and electricians that since they will also be held responsible under the Child Marriage Act if any such marriage takes place in their premises or they are involved in it. Therefore, for their own safety, they must ensure right before the marriage that both bride and the groom are adults by demanding their age-proofs,” said Deputy Development Commissioner Ananya Mittal.
In case, they come across any such marriage, they must inform the district administration, he added.
“All the stake holders have been asked to maintain a separate register for the same and enter names of bride and groom along with their date of birth,” said DDC.
Banquet hall owners so far do not keep any record of the bride or the grooms. Chairperson of Child Welfare Committee Rupa Verma asserted that it is an initiative to prevent child marriages.
“If the marriages are disrupted at a later stage, prospects of such minors of getting married later in their life are also affected,” said the CWC Chairperson.
Though, there are laws to protect child marriages, they are not so effective, she added. According to the data, as many as 24 child marriages were reported between April 2019 and January 2020.