SHILLONG: The Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly has revealed loopholes in the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, 2012.
In a statement, Senior Administrative Secretary of KJPA, Rev. N.S. Phawa, said that for the law to achieve the desired results, it was imperative that it clearly spells out the rights and duties that couples have towards each other and to the children born of the union both during the tenure of marriage and in the event of divorce.
He also said that the act is ineffective in dealing with the problems that confront couples in a marriage.
Stating that the provisions of the Act may be relevant in an urban educated setting but it is definitely out of sync with an agrarian and rural-based society like Meghalaya where sizeable augments of population live in the villages steeped in illiteracy.
“In one stroke, the act has taken away the sanctity and legality of marriages executed as per traditional customs and also reduces institutions like the church and the village authorities into redundancy,” he said.
He also stated that the Act should strike a balance between the aspirations of the modern couple in their quest for freedom and autonomy and the requirements of a tradition bound society with its plethora of institution that provide the support base for individual and groups.
