Women should embrace motherhood at the “appropriate age”, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
New Delhi ,UPDATED: Jan 28, 2023 19:16 IST
Assam CM’s remark came days after the Assam Cabinet decided to book men who marry girls aged below 14 under the POCSO Act. (File photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Women should embrace motherhood at the “appropriate age”, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma even as he warned men against marrying younger girls — underscoring his government’s commitment to stop underage marriages and motherhood.
Speaking about motherhood at an event in Guwahati, Sarma said, “Women should not wait too long to become mothers as it leads to medical complications. The appropriate age for motherhood is between 22 years and 30 years.”
“We have been speaking against early motherhood. But at the same time, women should not wait too long either as many do … God has created our bodies in a manner that there is an appropriate age for everything,” he added.
“The legal age for a woman to marry is 18 years. Those who marry younger girls will also be brought to book. Many men who marry girls could face life imprisonment,” said Sarma.
Sarma was speaking at the ceremonial appointment letter distribution programme at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakhetra in Guwahati, where he distributed appointment letters to 1,208 selected candidates for Health & Family Welfare and Home & Political departments.
The Assam Chief Minister’s comments came against the backdrop of the state government’s decision to bring stringent laws and invoke the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to check child marriages and underage motherhood.
“Thousands of husbands will be arrested in the next five to six months as it is a crime to have sexual relations with a girl below 14 years of age, even if he is her legally wed husband,” he warned.
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Sarma’s remark came days after the Assam Cabinet decided to book men who marry girls aged below 14 under the POCSO Act. Those who marry girls in the age group of 14-18 years will be tried under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
The decision was taken to curb the high rate of maternal and infant mortality in the state, whose primary cause is child marriage, Sarma had said after the cabinet meeting.
An average of 31 per cent of the marriages in the state are in the prohibited age group, he said.
