Mgr Gervas Rozario says the Catholic Church will not abide by the new Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2017, which acknowledges "special circumstances" for child marriage to save a girl’s honour.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – The Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) has strongly condemned a new child marriage law approved by Bangladesh’s parliament on Monday.
JPC president Mgr Gervas Rozario, bishop of Rajshahi, told AsiaNews that Parliament "made a serious mistake in approving the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2017 with a provision for special circumstances".
The latter is the most controversial part of the law since it allows marriage under certain circumstances, like "accidental or illegal pregnancies" to "save a girl’s honour."
"I expected the government to abolish altogether child marriage in Bangladesh. But now, with the 'special circumstances' provision, the number of marriages involving children will increase.”
The new law sets marriage for men and women at 21 and 18 respectively. However, activists bemoan the special circumstances clause, which de facto legalises the marriage of girls who get pregnant as a result of sexual violence, a problem that is widespread in the country.
The bishop of Rajshahi agrees. "Bangladesh is a corrupt country,” he noted. “Now many guardians can arrange child marriages. The police and activists will not be able to stop it.”
Official figures show that Bangladesh has the highest rate of underage grooms and brides in Asia. About 52 per cent of brides are under 18, and 18 per cent are under 15.
"As the Catholic Church, we shall not abide by the new law,” Mgr Rozario said; “we shall continue to consider 18 as the limit for women and 21 for men."
“It is a shame and unfortunate for us all," said Ayesha Khanom, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, a women's organisation.
“We have tried sincerely to get rid of’ ‘special circumstances’, but they kept it in the end,” added Kazi Reazul Hoque, president of Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission. “This bill will never help end child marriage.”