Shillong, Oct 26: The Maitshaphrang Movement on Tuesday sought the intervention of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW) for immediate implementation of the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, 2012.
In a letter to the chairperson of MSCW Phidalia Toi, Maitshaphrang convenor Michael Syiem said, “(We) sincerely appeal to the Commission to impress upon the present and post 2023 state government to ensure that the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012 is implemented without any further delay so that the vicious cycle of problems arising out of unregistered marriages in our state, not relating to abandonment only, but also problems like prostitution, underage marriages, unknown fathered children (children with no known Meikha- fraternal relations) and multi fathered children in the same family, apart from other issues, can be addressed to a great extent. We are sure that these are some of the priority concerns of the Commission.”
The Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012 was unanimously passed by the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly with the primary objective of addressing the increasing number of broken marriages, especially unregistered marriages, where many women with children are abandoned by their respective husbands without giving any maintenance or child support in the absence of a law for compulsory registration of marriage.
Syiem said the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in his reply to a zero hour notice by the MLA from North Shillong on March 11, 2021, acknowledged the importance of registration of marriage especially in Meghalaya where, “it is seen that the practice of cohabitation without entering into formal marriage and registration is prevalent and this leads to higher rate of desertion of women by their husbands and the women are left to fend for themselves and their children in the absence of any document to prove the marriage.”
He said the Maitshaphrang is aware that there are many abandoned/divorced women who approached the Meghalaya State Commission for Women for help in their fight for maintenance and also the difficulties when faced with unregistered marriages.
