Child Marriage in Nepal

By Rupa Dhital

Child marriage in Nepal is not a new phenomenon. It is a socially established practice that has been carried on from generation to generation. Religion has sanctioned it, and society has ensured its continuity.

Nepal can be divided into two cultures: Aryan and Mongolian (Tibeto- Burman). It is the Aryan culture, however, that has dominated and has had the most influence on the society. Child marriage is an institution sanctioned by ancient Hindu laws and devotedly practiced by its followers. In the ancient Hindu scriptures of 400 to 100 BC, there are strict moral laws that enjoin the father to marry off his daughter at a very young age. These religious texts indicate that the best age for a girl to get married is between is 8 and 10. It has been also mentioned that a girl should not wait for marriage more than three years after attaining puberty, and if she is not given by then in marriage by her father, the texts even instruct her to get married on her own. Such religious texts ( the Bishnu Sutra and Gautam Sutra) direct the father to marry his daughter within three weeks of attaining puberty, and no later. By 200 BC, the rules for a daughter's marriage seems to have become even more strict. The religious texts of that time contain strict moral laws that enjoined the father to marry off his daughter before she reaches puberty. Sage Manu of that age has categorically written in his treatise, Manu Smriti, that if a girl remains unmarried after reaching the puberty, the father has failed in his duty towards her. Similarly, another sage, Parasara, said that the parents or guardians of a girl in who reaches puberty before marriage will definitely go to hell. Such rules imposed by the "holy ones" had their effect upon the religious population, and the practice of child marriage was firmly established by 200 BC. Even the marriage of infants became common. The ceremony of marrying off a daughter is still called "Kanyadan", which literally translates as "the gift of a virgin". According to the Hindu belief, the act of Kanyadan earns a lot of "punya" or spiritual credit to the father.

Child marriage was usually understood to mean the marriage of two children, but it also included unmatched marriages. The highly gender discriminative Hindu marriage law permitted the marriage of a very young girl and a very old man. The Hindu puritans also gave full sexual freedom to the men: they could marry as many wives they wanted for pleasure and child rearing, but were very strict with women. And that gave rise to the custom of "sati", in which a woman, even if she were very young and with child, had to be burnt alive along with her husband's dead body. The sati custom was prevalent in Nepali society up to the end of 19th century. It was later outlawed.

Although sage Parashar advocated widow marriage, such progressive thinking was shunned by the Hindu puritan. Though in practice for some time, the custom of widow marriage seems to have been gradually looked down upon by the first century AD. By 600 AD, it was religiously prohibited, and by 1100 AD, widow marriage was totally wiped out from the society.

The custom of child marriage seems to have been triggered off by the "Brahmin" clan, which is considered the highest caste according to Hindu law. The middle age Sanskrit plays of 300 to 1200 AD narrate incidents of daughters of ruling families observing the "Swayambar" or choose-your-own-partner ceremonies. This implies that in the castes or groups other than Brahmin, the custom of child marriage had not acquired the status of religious and traditional compulsion.

This is true even in the present context. The tradition of child marriage is stronger in Indo-Aryan orthodox Hindu communities such as Parbatia (Bramhins, Chetris, etc.). It is less prominent among the Tibeto-Burman groups, such as the Kirati, Magar, Tamang, Sherpa and other hill/mountain groups. The practice is strongest among the Maithilis living in the Terai (southern plains).

Some Statistics

Statistics show that 18% of the girls in Asia, 16% in Africa and 8% in Latin America are married by the age of 14. The picture is more prominent in South Asian countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka, and Nepal holds the dubious distinction of having the highest incidence of child marriage in the region. According to a UNICEF source, 40% of all women in Nepal are married before the age of 14 years. It has also been reported that 60.2% of girls between 15 and 19 are married.

Figure: 1

Child Marriage in South Asia

Country	Girls under 15 years
Bangladesh	4%
Bhutan -
India	6%
Maldives	12%
Nepal	40%
Pakistan	4%
Sri Lanka	0.2%

Source: UNICEF

According to the first report prepared under the Demographic Sample Survey, 1986/87, it is stated that nearly 7% of girl children were found to be married before reaching the age of 10.

According to the population census of 1991, the total number of males and females in the age group 10-14 are 118,541 and 109,054 respectively. Among the males, 108,091 are single, 3,992 married, 117 are widowers, 82 are divorced and 33 separated. The rest (6,225) males had not stated their marital status.

Among the girls, 96,25 are single, 7,065 married, 1001 widows, 88 divorced and 31 separated. Some 5,650 females did not mention their marital status in the survey. This figures reveals that around 7% of the males and females in the age group 10-14 were either married or widowed, divorced or separated. The figure also reveals that there are more married girls than boys in the age group 10-14. The ratio of divorced females is also higher in this group.

In the urban areas, the percentage of married children is comparatively low. On a region-wise basis, the mean age of the girl child at the time of marriage seems to be lowest in the Terai region followed by the hills and mountain region and the Kathmandu valley.

Figure 2

Girl's Mean Age at Marriage by Region (1981)

Region Mean	Age
Terai	15.2
Hills	18
Mountains	18.5
Kathmandu Valley	18.8

Source: CBS, 1987

There are extreme variations in the age at marriage - a low of 13.7 years for the Terai district of Mohottari and a high of 25.8 years in the mountain district of Mustang have been recorded. Urban women marry later than their rural counterparts, the average ages being 18.5 and 17.1 years respectively. The mean marriage age is highest among the residents of the Kathmandu Valley and mountains while it is lowest in the Terai.

Figure 3

Pattern of Early Marriage in 5 Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Group		Age Group		Total
	1-9 yrs	10-13 yrs	14-16 yrs	Under 16yrs
Rai	-	6%	30%	36%
Newar	2.2%	26.7%	13%	41.9%
Tamang	-	12.8%	36.2%	59%
Parbatiya	14.85%	9.3%	50%	74.1%
Maithili	23%	56.7%	16.2%	95.9%

Source: CEDA

Among the ethnic groups, the Maithilis of the Terai and Parbatiya of the hills have the highest number of child marriages.

Social, Cultural and Economic Factors

Nepal is predominately a patriarchal society where women have a much lower status than men. It is the girl children who suffer most from this discriminatory attitude. In a society, which has reportedly the highest rate of son preference in the world, girls are a liability from the time they are born. Sons continue the blood linkage; daughters do not. Sons look after their parents in their old age; daughters get married off somewhere. Therefore, daughters are somebody else's property, to be somehow reared, brought up and given in marriage as soon as possible.

The non-status of girl children as complete human beings makes its presence felt in many discriminatory practices within the family. Girls get less medical care and have less access to education and food than their brothers. It is no surprise then, that more girls than boys die before they are 5 years old. According to the 1987 statistics, the proportion of girls in the child population in the age group 1-15 was found to be 1000:925. In Nepal, one child in every 15 is actually malnourished, with the figure two times higher for girls than boys.

The rearing of a girl child in Nepali society involves moulding them into the future role of a wife and daughter-in-law. From the time they are young children, they are expected to be hard working, meek, obedient, soft spoken and self sacrificing. The girls are seen as somebody else's wealth, therefore any investment in a daughter in terms of education, self development, etc., is considered futile. According to the education statistics of 1989, among the total school children in the age group 6-15, only 33% are girls.

The Hindu religion sanctions and advocates the institution of marriage. It has projected marriage and motherhood as the be-all and end-all goal of every women and there is strong pressure (not only from within the immediate family, but also from community members) to get daughters married as soon as possible. The pressure to maintain caste purity is intense. Intercaste marriage, especially among orthodox Hindus, is avoided like the plague. The offspring of such a union and all subsequent generations will from the caste hierarchy and will be excluded from all sacred rituals like birth, death and weddings. This attitude has given rise to some extreme practices to reserve a groom or bride. The practice of "magani" (engagement) between infants and by the promise of expectant parents still prevails in some parts of the country.

Virginity of the bride and life long fidelity towards the husband are highly prized social values. Thus arises the need for parents to "protect" their daughters till a suitable match is found. Then the task goes to her husband. The rule that guides most women's lives in Nepali society is : Obey your father when you are a daughter, obey your husband when you are a wife, and obey your son when you are a mother. Women, therefore, are under the rule of men all their lives. In such a conservative and traditional society, the majority of women do not have freedom in any aspect of their lives, and that includes marriage. Marriage is an important event is a woman's life, as it determines her position in life. A woman derives her full identity only after marriage. But ironically the process involves not the emotional bonding between the couple, but is seen rather as an occasion for two families to come together.

The Mongolian (Tibeto-Burman) culture gives women more freedom to choose her partner, and the women maintain a comparatively high status within the marriage. Still, irrespective of the culture they come from, women in Nepal remain socially, culturally and religiously second class citizens.

Among all the ethnic groups, there are different beliefs that emphasise the importance of early marriage. The Majhi and Danuwar communities insist on the early marriage of their daughters because the death rituals demand the presence of married daughters who need to present the holy spirit with a pot of home-made whiskey and a chicken for the peace of the departed souls. Among the indigenous Ghasiyaran (grass cutters) and Chidimar (bird hunters) of Nepalgunj, child marriage for both sons and daughters is a social norm; there can be no other way. Among the orthodox Brahmin/Chetri in the Karnali zone of the far west, the girls need to get married before they attain puberty to be socially accepted.

Child marriage is of great economic importance in the agrarian economy. In the Tamang community, the parents get their young sons married to older girls for their labour. A similar custom exists among some ethnic groups in the Terai. There are cases of parents getting their very young sons married to much older girls. To hire a "charua" (cattle herder) and "harua" (plougher) costs money; they will not be sincere in their work and might steal. A daughter-in-law, on the other hand, is free from such vices and is an unpaid worker.

Even though child marriage occurs mostly in the rural areas and the practice seems to have diminished in the cities with the rise of an educated population and development opportunities, it seems to be making a come-back in the urban areas because of the growing crimes against women such as rape, trafficking, prostitution, etc. The insecure and terrified parents would like to see their daughters safely married as soon as possible. Child marriage was and is a common practice among the residents of the slum and squatter areas in the cities. According to a 1994 CWIN study in 13 squatter areas in the Kathmandu Valley, 11% of the girls under 16 were married.

And then there is the consideration of how to save money on the dowry.

The Dowry System

The presents from the girl's parents at the time of the wedding is called the dowry, which mainly consist of house hold items to help the couple establish their new home. Parents giving dowry according to their capacity is part of the wedding ritual in all parts of the country. This practice, however, exists in its most extreme form in the Terai region. There the bridegroom demands the dowry price, locally called "tilak". The tilak money demanded by the groom's family can be a hefty sum and might not correspond to the economic position of the bride's family, thereby making the marriage of daughters a heavy burden on the girl's parents.

The tilak is adjusted according to the education, qualifications and social standing of the boy. The higher the qualifications, the higher the price he demands in marriage. This compels the parents to marry off their daughters as soon as possible with anybody, without considering if he is eligible or not. Keeping an unmarried daughter at home can be a continuous source of worry for the parents, because her marriage becomes more complicated and expensive as she grows older. A younger girl, on the other hand, can get a groom who will be comparatively younger and less qualified, thus demanding less tilak money. As shown in Fig. 2, the average age of girls at the time of marriage is lowest in the Terai region. For the Terai district of Mahottari, the age is 13.7 years, the lowest in the country. And as shown in the Fig. 3, the Maithili speaking people in the Terai have the highest rate of child marriage, with 95.6% girls getting married before the age of 16. The main reason behind this is the widely prevalent dowry system.

The dowry price is fixed at the time of marriage and handed over at the time of gauna (consummation) after the girl attends puberty. It can also be paid in installments between the marriage and gauna, during which period the girl stays with her parents and, depending upon the local customs, the girl's parents also need to send expensive presents to the groom's family on several occasions to keep the marriage valid.

Because of the dowry price the parents have to pay in their daughter's marriage, other expenses for daughters like sending them to school might not even be considered as it will be a case of double expense. Besides, educated and older girls are more difficult to marry off in the society ruled by conservative Hindu traditions.

Devastating Effects

Child marriage can have several harmful effects on the overall well-being of a girl child who is not mentally, psychologically, emotionally or physically prepared for a conjugal life. An early marriage robs her of an opportunity of starting or continuing her education and deprives her of any possibility to develop her own personality and potentiality. Once married, she is expected to get into the multiple role of a good wife, perfect daughter-in-law, diligent house-keeper and responsible mother. This transition can be psychologically and emotionally stressful for a young girl. Deprived as a child and lacking maturity and skill to handle her personal, family, economic and social affairs, the young wife may develop fears and complexes that last her whole life.

Besides negative psychological and emotional repercussions, the physical havoc that child marriage wreaks upon the bodies of girls who are too young for a sex life can be devastating. Having sexual intercourse with older partners (as happens in most cases) can result into many health problems, including cervical cancer, besides the physical and mental torture they must endure. In the Terai, it is common for 10 or 12-year-old married girls to suffer sex related injuries, pain and sickness.

Underage girls who are disadvantaged by childhood deprivation give birth to weak and underdeveloped offspring. The risk of complications during childbirth is greater because the bodies of girls under 18 are not fully developed. The amyontic fluid needed for the survival and growth of the fetus might not be mature enough and the underdeveloped uterus cannot provide a full protection shield. Similarly, because of the cervical dilation (lack of elasticity in the crevix), the child may suffocate to death at the time of birth. Also pregnant adolescents are less likely to receive early and adequate pre-natal care, thus leading to higher rates of maternal and child mortality. Pregnancy related complications are the main cause of death in 15-19 year old girls world-wide. The women who begin child bearing at an early age are also more likely to fall into a pattern of having babies in quick succession which is not conductive to good health of the girls and their babies. It also means that they will have larger families overall, which leads to higher maternal and child mortality.

In Nepal, the average woman gives birth to her first child at the age of 15 and has the total fertility rate of 5.8. Every year, the number of pregnant women is estimated to be 940,000. According to a city hospital, out of 14,000 annual delivery cases, 2443 are teenage girls. According to another statistics, 82.3% of mothers in Nepal do not get any prenatal care, 92.5% give birth at home, 9.6% give birth alone and 58.2% give birth without the assistance of trained helpers. With this state of maternal health, it is obvious that the maternal and child mortality rate is alarming. According to 1991 statistics, the maternal mortality rate in Nepal is 853 per 100,000 and the crude birth rate is 40.7% per 1000 population. Similarly, the infant mortality rate is 107 per 1000 live births and the under five mortality rate is 165 per 1000.

Due to the lack of awareness of the negative effects of child marriage practices, many people, especially those in the rural villages, are apathetic to this grim scenario of maternal and child health statistics. They do not see the correlation between child marriage and health problems, and attribute factors of ill health and death to bad luck and the anger of the gods. When discussions on the harmful effects of early marriage pop up, it is common for the villagers to dismiss such thoughts by pointing out some such example as that of an aged village woman who was married at seven or eight, who bore 10 or 12 children and who still lives hale and hearty in her 70s or 80s. She might have lost some children in infancy, but that was the god's will. It happens to everyone.

A physically and mentally immature mother not only gives birth to weak and underdeveloped children, she is also not equipped with the necessary knowledge about the child rearing. In the villages, a young mother tends to leave her child the whole day with her mother-in-law or older siblings while she herself goes out to work in the fields. In the society, it is still unseemly for a young father to participate in child rearing. In such a situation, the child may be deprived and neglected, and the birth of a younger siblings in quick succession will increase the degree of neglect of the older children.

Early marriage has also been associated with women trafficking. Young girls are more vulnerable to such sordid dealings. Parents, in their zeal to wash hands of their unmarried daughters, tend to get them married to the first boy they come across, without bothering to consider his age, qualifications, character or motives. Many instances of girls having been sold into the brothels in India by their older husbands have been reported. Clever traffickers use fake marriages as an organised ploy to procure girls, victimising many gullible parents and daughters.

The sense of security that early marriage gives the parents is really short lived since there is every possibility of the husband changing his mind later on about his wife, and this can be devastating. It is quite common in Nepali society for a man who, after completing his education and securing a job in the city, to change his mind about the "village bumpkin" he once married and remarry a girl his choice, leaving the former to languish as a rejected wife in a conservative society. Such a woman suffers the similar fate as a widow. They both have to observe the conservative rules of life and remarriage is socially forbidden.

How Effective is the Law ?

The Civil Code of 1963 fixed the legal age for marriage of girls at 16 and made polygamy and child marriage illegal. A girl can marry after the age of 16 years with the consent of her parents or guardians, and at 18 she can marry without their consent. The corresponding ages for men are 18 and 21 years.

The penalty for violations of the law is according to the age of the girls involved. This includes both prison sentence and fine, with the fees collected in the case of under-age marriage to be turned over to the girl involved.

The laws provides the following penalties for those responsible for arranging under-age marriages:

1. For anyone responsible for arranging the marriage of a girl under 10 years of age, the penalty is from 3 months to 3 years imprisonment, plus a fine of Rs. 500 to Rs. 5,000.

2. When the age of the girl involved is above 10 but under 14 years, those responsible for her marriage are liable to imprisonment up to one year and a fine of Rs. 2000.

3. When the girl involved is between the ages of 14 to 16, the punishment is up to 3 months imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1000.

4. Anyone responsible for arranging the marriage of a girl in the age group 16-18 years without her parents' consent will be charged a fine of up to Rs. 500.

5. i) Priests, middlemen and adults responsible for deliberately arranging the marriage of a girl under 14 years while being aware of the legal position of child marriage will receive the punishment of imprisonment up to one month and fine of up to Rs. 100.

ii) When the girl involved is above 14 and under 16, the penalty is either imprisonment up to 15 days or a fine of up to Rs. 300.

iii) Anyone responsible for arranging the marriage of a girl under 18 and a boys under 21 without the consent of their respective parents will be charged a fine of up to Rs. 300.

These legal measures, however, are largely ineffective, especially in the rural villages. Almost a quarter of the total districts in Nepal have a mean age at marriage that is below the legal age, and none of the districts is devoid of the incidence of child marriage. Child marriage is common in practice.

The legal measures can be a long and annoying process. According to Dr. Shanta Thapalia, professor at the Nepal Law College "the only way a case can be made in the court is if the girl or boy states that the marriage was made against her/his will. Actually, the punishment would be directed at the parents and priests conducting the marriage, but this is not practically possible. Minors will not go to court by themselves. And besides, no one wants to take the risk of earning enmity by intervening in other people's internal affairs."

The laws are also faulty and contradictory. The Marriage Act , Provision 6 of the Civil Code gives permission for the payment of dowry. Though against the law, this is permissible if it is a custom within the community. This contradiction encourages child marriage to avoid excessive payments. Similarly, the penalty for adults responsible for arranging the marriage for a girl under 10 years of age can be insufficient and lax. The prison term of "three months to three years" is practically interpreted as only three months, as little as possible. The punishment is directed to only one person of the marriage arranging party, and he can be bailed out by paying a fine of Rs. 7 a day for three months. This is too light a punishment for people to fear the law. Besides, because of its tremendous religious and cultural values, it wins the concern and goodwill of not only relatives, but also the community and society as a whole. People in the society would rather protect a case than report it to the police.

A police officer at the Kalikasthan Police Station in Rasua District, famous for the high rate of child marriage, says: "We can not take action unless a formal complaint is lodged at the police station. And we never get a single complaint."

Looking at the government statistics on child marriage, the Home Ministry says that during fiscal year 050/051 (mid 1994 to mid 1995), only seven cases were reported to the police. In the previous year, only 10 were reported.

Conclusion

Children are the most precious legacy of any nation. The future of a country can be perceived by looking at the situation of its children at the present time. Children are to be nurtured, and loved. The deserve care, understanding and the best that man has to offer. They have the right to justice, freedom and ample opportunity for the development of their full potential. This is every child's inborn right, irrespective of nationality, caste, creed or sex.

Child marriage is a gross violation of child's rights ; it robs children of their childhood, hinders their growing up process and forces them into the dark abyss of an uncertain future. Since most of the victims of this practice are girl children, it is they who suffer most from the devastating effects of this evil practice.

Marriage is an important part of human life. It is an institution which demands maturity, capacity and responsibility. A young girl, still in her childhood, cannot be expected to appreciate the union called marriage and to know conjugal bliss in an enforced early marriage. The physical and emotional trauma she has to undergo is comparable to that of the victim of any heinous crime, and she ends up leading a repressed, insecure and submissive existence.

Child marriage has to be eliminated despite its strong hold on society in because of its firm religious and cultural background. But it is easier said than done. In the Nepali society, with the majority of its population illiterate, ignorant and backward, age-old traditions and customs are not easy to do away with. Only education and awareness among the people, especially in the rural areas, can make a difference. Unless people are made aware of the devastating multi-pronged effects of early marriage, they will not strive for its removal from the society. Therefore, a wide scale awareness campaign should be launched at the grass-root level to gradually move public opinion against the practice. The government, NGOs, community workers, youth groups and individuals from every strata of society, can all play important roles in creating public awareness.

People should also be made aware of human rights - which means equal rights and opportunities for both men and women as well as child's rights, which recognises the girl child as being as rightful an heir to a childhood as her brothers. When people, especially women, are aware of their own rights and the rights of their children, they will be able to ensure the rights of their child to a childhood.

The very low literary status (40% for men and 18% for women) is a key factor in sustaining the practice of child marriage. Instances have proved that with the growing level of education, people automatically opt out of harmful traditions and customs. Education can play a big role in the empowerment of women to change their position in a discriminatory society. An educated mother is more likely to protect the interests of her children and say "no" to evil practices like child marriage. Therefore, the government should strive to provide equal access to all children for education and skill acquisition.

The girls should be encouraged to develop their potential, pursue a career and become economically independant at family, social and national level. Such emphasis on personal development of the girls will automatically force early marriage to take a backseat and encourage late marriage. The national planning should include wide scale opportunties for the upliftment of girl children in the society.

Laws, though not the only means to remove child marriage from society, can be effective in checking and controlling the problem. The laws regarding child marriage in Nepal need to be revised. They should be made more stringent and should be well defined. An enforcement mechanism should be developed to ensure effective enforcement of the law.

The issue of child marriage should be developed from a family concern to a societal and national concern as it involves the life and future of the most important sector of our society. Finally, it is people's participation that can make the difference in the fight against the social crime of child marriage.