The world can wait, she has her hormones to take care of first

According to the Karnataka high court, women under 21 years of age are not yet old enough to decide who they want to marry, as they are swayed by hormones

The key to a successful love marriage is parental consent, according to a recent ruling by the Karnataka High Court that deemed women between the ages of 18 and 21 years "not capable of forming a rational judgment as to the suitability of the boy, with whom they are in love".

The ability to form a "rational judgement", however, had little to do with limited life experience and was instead attributed to "hormonal imbalance". "... those girls, who are suffering from hormonal imbalance easily fall prey to the boys and fall in love, marry and repent at leisure," ruled the court.



The case
Two months ago, a resident of Sudhamanagar in Bangalore, Avinash, filed a habeas corpus plea, as his in-laws had denied him permission to meet his wife. On February 7 of this year, the parents of the girl had lodged a kidnapping complaint with the Bangalore police after their daughter reportedly went missing while on her way to college on February 2, 2011. It was later discovered that the girl had married Avinash on March 3, 2011, after she turned 18 on March 1.

The newly married couple returned to Bangalore on March 28. Avinash appeared before the police, who encouraged the girl's parents to allow him to meet the girl twice a day, provided he saw the police everyday.

The parents refused to be part of the deal, following which the girl's husband decided to file the plea against them.

Women's rights lawyer, Flavia Agnes, says that this is just another attempt by the courts to prevent women from exercising their rights. "The issue here is parental authority. Courts seem to endorse the view that the parents will decide what's best for the girl, but what the girl wants for herself doesn't seem to count. Parents will control the girl's mind, body and sexuality."

Psychiatrist Shefali Batra says that while she does agree that 18 is too young for women to get married, the issue of hormones playing a role in determining these decisions is not true. "You don't decide who you are going to get married to on the basis of hormones. What the girl might have been lacking in is social exposure."

Girl speak

It's a sexist ruling. Why are only women being targetted! If girls get swayed by hormones, so do guys. While parents should have a say, ultimately it's up to the girl and the guy to decide who they want to marry.
Saily Gokhale, 20, student

I agree that parents should play a role in deciding who a girl needs to marry, but the entire decision cannot be theirs alone. So many people around this age are indecisive about their careers, leave alone their marriage.
Shivani Gawde, 19, student