On Friday (December 17), Maharashtra Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi courted controversy after he suggested that staying alone with your daughter or sister can lead to rape. He made the contentious remarks during an interview with News 18 after the Union Cabinet gave a nod to increasing the minimum marriageable age for women to 21.
On being quizzed by journalist Amish Devgan about his reasons for opposing the new proposal, Azmi alleged, “Our culture says that when girls/children grow up or become adults, they should be married immediately. Or wait patiently if you do not find a suitable partner.”
He added, “Once the delay the prolonged, even after such a partner is found, then only the parents of the child will be accused of committing a sin. This is because the responsibility of sinful behaviour of their children (if any) will then lie on their parents.”
On hearing this, Amish Devgan asked, “Don’t you have trust in women?”. The Samajwadi Party leader clarified, “No, there is nothing like this. They are definitely trustworthy. I also have a girl. I am not talking about trust here.”
Azmi went on to make bizarre claims about rape and suggested that staying alone with your daughter and sister can make you commit such a heinous crime. “If my girl/daughter or sister is alone at home, then, my sacrament tells me to not stay near them. The Satan (Devil) might take over your spirits,” he emphasised.
“We are witnessing several rape cases committed by cousin brothers and fathers… This is a precautionary measure taught by our forefathers,” Azmi claimed. The Samajwadi Party leader concluded, “Interference in the rules of Bhagwan and Allah leads to disbalance in the society.”
It must be mentioned that Abu Azmi had earlier suggested that women would go astray if they were not married early. Another Samajwadi Party leader Shafiqur Rahman Barq claimed that it would equip girls with excuses to do ‘awargi’ (indulge in reckless, immoral behaviour).“
Union Cabinet raises minimum marriageable age of women, personal laws to be amdended
On December 15, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage of women from 18 years to 21 years. During the Independence Day address in August 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the same and said the Government was planning to amend the law for the same.
He again pointed out the same in an address to the people of the nation in October 2020 and said the government would soon take a decision over it. Once the law is amended, the legal marriageable age for both men and women would become the same, i.e. 21 years. Following the announcement of the decision, there was speculation that the decision would just affect Hindus because it was unclear whether personal laws would be changed.
It was unclear if any change to Muslim Personal Law would be made to amend the minimum age of marriage for women, which is currently 15 years. The speculation was that the Muslim personal law would give the community the right to marry their girls at 15, and Hindus would follow the law, thereby affecting the fertility rate and screwing the demography further.
OpIndia reached out to sources in the know to get clarity on the issue. Sources have clarified that all personal laws, including Sharia and Christian laws, would also be amended to increase the marital age of women to 21.