Desertion of women by their husbands or long-term partners is still a massive problem in Meghalaya despite the passage of the Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma admitted in the Assembly today.
“Child marriages, bigamy, desertion of women by their husbands and gender violence continue to persist in our society despite legislation,” Sangma said while replying to a Zero Hour notice brought by North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum.
The CM said that disputes regarding matrimonial status often end up in the courts and women are often denied status of being wives due to the absence of records proving a valid marriage.
Courts have time and again emphasised making registration of marriage compulsory to prevent denial of status and legal rights to women as well as to protect children born out of wedlock.
He said that, in the absence of compulsory registration of marriage, women are duped into marrying without fulfilling the conditions for a valid marriage.
In Meghalaya the practice of cohabitation without formal marriage and registration is widespread and leads to a high rate of desertion of women by their partners, with the women left to fend for themselves and their children in the absence of any document to prove marriage.
“To address this problem, the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012 was enacted to provide for compulsory registration of marriage in the state,” the Chief Minister said.
The act provides that, for all official purposes, production of a marriage certificate is mandatory. However, the term ‘official purposes’ was not defined under the act.
“The latest amendment of 2019, merely defined official purposes as a contract of marriage entered between the parties for addressing issues pertaining to pension, succession and maintenance of spouse, which is nothing but a clarificatory amendment without any prejudice to the object of the act of 2012,” the Chief Minister said.
