Meghalaya: Demand for implementation of Registration of Marriage Act, 2012 gains momentum

The Maitshaphrang Movement of Meghalaya have sought the intervention of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW) for immediate implementation of the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, 2012.

“(We) sincerely appeal to the Commission to impress upon the present and post 2023 state governments 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) 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”, said a letter by Maitshaphrang convenor Michael Syiem to the chairperson of MSCW Phidalia Toi. 

The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act 2012 with the main goal of addressing the rising number of broken marriages, particularly unregistered marriages, where many women with children are abandoned by their respective husbands without providing any maintenance or child support in the absence of a law for compulsory registration of marriage.

“Specifically in Meghalaya, where it is observed that the practise of cohabitation without entering into formal marriage and registration is prevalent and this results in a high rate of desertion of women,” Syiem claimed that the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma acknowledged the importance of marriage registration in his response to a zero hour notice by the MLA from North Shillong on March 11, 2021.

He claimed that the Maitshaphrang is aware of how many abandoned or divorced women turn to the Meghalaya State Commission for Women for assistance in their battles for maintenance and the challenges presented by unrecorded weddings.