‘Marriageable age limit should be 25 for women’
The marriageable age of women should be raised to 25 and that of men to 28, according to Kerala State Women’s Commission (KSWC) chairperson Justice (retd) D Sreedevi.
This, she said, would halt to an extent the large number of divorces and other problems faced by those who marry early even in a highly literate state like Kerala.
“I personally feel that both men and women will attain a maturity only by the age of 25. Men should ideally take three more years, that is 28, to marry,’’ she told Deccan Herald here. Justice Sreedevi pointed out that even in Kerala, many girls were married off even before they completed their education, when they were not at all mature enough to take decisions on their life.
The commission was being bombarded with the escalating number of split-ups and other domestic issues because of early marriage. Though the women’s commission had not taken a general decision in this regard, this was her personal opinion, she clarified.
Justice Sreedevi’s opinion assumes significance in the context of the proposed sitting of the National Commission for Women here later this month to deliberate the issue.
The NCW has been in discussion with several stakeholders on fixing a common marriageable age for both girls and boys at 18 years. The Law Commission had also made a similar recommendation. The state commission will discuss the matter at its next sitting on Monday.
