Govt set to lower minimum age of marriage

Setopati

Kathmandu, June 15

The government is set to lower the minimum legal age of marriage.

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Govinda Koirala (Bandi) informed Wednesday’s parliament meeting that the process to amend the marriageable age has moved forward.

Responding to questions raised in parliament on Wednesday, Minister Koirala said that the law allowing marriage only upon reaching 20 years of age is being amended as it is not practical.

“One can get citizenship at 16 years, cast vote at 18. One needs to reach 20 years to get married, this is not practical,” he said. “There is no standard that shows the need to wait till 20 to get married. Instead, it has only led to more crime. Therefore it should be reviewed. The ministry has already begun the process to review it.”

Minister Koirala said that raising the minimum age of marriage had seen an increase in incidents of crime in the form of child marriage.

However, he did not say anything about what age should be set as the minimum age of marriage.

Published Date: 2022-06-15 15:11:00

Recommendations