Society and the Child in Manipur

Rajkumar Tomma Singh *

Child Trafficking :: Artwork by Phurailatpam Banti

If all the laws enacted by the Indian Parliament and implemented in letter and spirit, society in general would have witnessed lesser poverty, hunger, mal-nourished children, child labour in hazardous industries, illiteracy and ever increasing scale of child trafficking especially the female child. Hats off to some sections of the media that have highlighted emergent trend of crimes committed against the Girl and Boy Child or more specifically the minors.

Dealing with such issues demand total grit and commitment at least for the causes the country promises to espouse. Besides various Legislations which have been enacted by the State to prevent atrocities and crimes against minors despite the intervention of the Apex Court holding that the State ought to intervene to enforce the provisions of legislation the decision delivered by the Supreme Court are by far and large ignored and continues unabated.

There are Child Help Groups who are tirelessly coming out to deliver justice to the victims of atrocities and exploitation. However, we see that there has been an increasing trend of crimes committed against the minors by members of the society who perhaps are not aware of the existence of protective rights besides the introduction of a slew of empowerment measures.

We should remember that justice undelivered is justice denied. We quite often hear cases of child labour, illiteracy and immoral trafficking of minor girls and the practice becoming wide spread.

It is more shocking to acknowledge that high incidents of child abuse around the world and even in our society are committed by relatives or people we know are the near ones. There had been no concrete legislation in respect to child laws. Noting the development, the Government of India in the year 2000 introduced some laws which have come to force now.

There are many issues related to not only crimes against minors but also abuses of children which had been ignored by the society in general. Most often people tend to see most of the legislations from the prism of ethnocentrism or they are simply unaware of laws enacted so as to safeguard the life of individuals as well as protect minors from the clutches of those who are out to destroy the life of the minorities.

Despite the increasing violence against women and child in a state like Manipur, there are also other issues related to how one understands violation of child rights from within the norms we often take for granted due to implicit sanction given by the society. In this context, the author wishes to discuss the concept and practice of marriage which have sometimes ignored the laws governing nuptial ties.

In Manipur, we are a little fortunate that the concept of child-marriage does not exist in the society. On the other hand, the Gandharva form or Chenba (elopement) whose consent of the father or guardian of the girl is required which marriages are not recognised by the society exist in Manipur.

The age of puberty is generally recognized between 13 years and 14 years nonetheless the same are under-age considering the Indian Majority Act, 1875.

According to section 3 of the Indian Majority Act the age of majority is generally 18 years nevertheless under the textual Hindu law minority terminates at the age of 16 (sixteen). Here again under the Dayabhaga School it is interpreted to mean the beginning of 16th year, while in the Mitakshara School the completion of 16th year.

The Manipuri Hindus follow the Bengal or Dayabhaga School of Hinduism. However, there are 4 (four) forms of marriage which are recognized under the customs of Hindu Manipuri which are

(i) Brahma form (Luhongba), where the bride is given by her father or guardian after performing sankritan or sankirtan and yagna in presence of brother-hood,

(ii) Asura, another form of luhongba which is similar to the Brahma form, however something in kind or cash is accepted by the bride's father or guardian in g

(iii) Prajapatya form or Kanyakatpa, and

(iv) Gandharva form or Chenba (elopement)whose sanction of the father or guardian of the girl is required which marriages are not recognised by the society. The age of puberty is generally recognized between 13 years and 14 years.

While discussing the various trends and practices of marriages in Manipur, we have often neglected the age factor under the legal provisions as provided in laws. Most of tend to believe that mere attaining puberty is a qualifier of getting married least caring whether or not the person is still a minor under the eyes of the law.

This has impacted on the overall well beings of the girl child even if our social norms and situation are drastically different from those practiced in the mainland India. Here, we should take note of our contributions to the ever increasing crimes on the girl child or for that matters even the boy child if we continue to grossly ignore legal marriageable age as prescribed by law.