Child marriage worse than rape: Delhi court

PTI, New Delhi :
Child marriage “is an evil worse than rape” and should be completely eradicated from society, said a Delhi court while ordering registration of a case against a girl’s parents for getting her married at a tender age.
Metropolitan magistrate Shivani Chauhan issued the direction while hearing a case of dowry harassment filed by the girl’s parents against her husband and in-laws.
While ordering lodging of the case, the court held that “giving and taking dowry is punishable under the law”.
The court directed the police to register a case under the appropriate provisions of the “Prohibition of Child Marriage Act” and under the Dowry Prohibition Act against the parents of the 14-year-old girl as well as her in-laws, against whom a domestic violence case has already been registered.