Bangladesh: Formation of Automated Marriage Bureau to Check Fraudulence Underscored

Speakers at a views sharing meeting of human rights activists and marriage registrars demanded formation of central automated marriage bureau aiming at checking the various fraudulence in marriage and bringing reforms to the existing faulty marriage registration system to stop early marriage.

Chittagong Metropolitan chapter of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) and district unit of Bangladesh Jatiya Kazi Samity (BJKS) arranged the meeting on “Role of human rights activists and marriage registrars in checking fraudulence in marriage process and stopping child marriage” held here on Monday.

Barrister Asad Abdullah, BJKS president Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, general secretary Kazi Mohammad Sarwar Alam, general secretary of BJKS, Chittagong unit, MA Hannan Zilani, BSEHR leader advocates- Syed Anowar Hossain, Abul Khayer and AHM Jashimuddin among others, took part in the discussion held at Chittagong Lawyers building with Chittagong city unit president of BSEHR, Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan in the chair.

BSEHR Metropolitan unit general secretary presented a paper focusing the existing faults in the marriage registration process and placed ways and means of checking cheating in marriage registration system as well as stopping early marriage.

Speakers at the discussion viewed that there were ample scope of applying fraudulent measures in the process of marriage registration particularly hiding some important information of bride and bridegroom by taking advantages of existing faulty registration form and process.

The meeting said the rate of child marriage has been on the increase also due to faulty registration process and the designated marriage registrars have been facing immense sufferings by the law enforcing agencies either for registering early marriage or in the incident of polygamy without taking prior permission of the first wife.

They also viewed that apart from imparting training to the marriage registrars for their skill development, the government should establish an automated central marriage bureau like as in France having all related information of marriage related information of all individuals, introduction of giving affidavit before conducting the Nikahnama by brides and bridegrooms, stopping court marriage by giving affidavit and provision of mentioning the name of mothers of both brides and bridegrooms like the names of fathers.

Source: The New Nation – 21 March 2008