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India's law that treats marriage of a girl below 18 or a boy below 21 as child marriage, making it voidable and punishing those who arrange it.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) is the central law that prohibits child marriage in India. It defines a child as a male who has not completed 21 years or a female who has not completed 18 years, and treats any marriage in which either party is a child as a child marriage. Such a marriage is voidable at the option of the party who was a child, and in certain situations - such as trafficking or enticement - it is void from the start. The Act punishes the adult man who marries a child and anyone who performs, arranges, promotes or permits the marriage, and it creates Child Marriage Prohibition Officers to prevent such marriages. It received assent on 10 January 2007, came into force on 1 November 2007, and replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. It is administered through the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the states. The law is back in focus after the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus, on 4 September 2026, a resolution proclaiming 27 November the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage. India supported the resolution, and 27 November is also the date India launched its Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign in 2024.
Type: LawAGE DEFINITION (Section 2) - a child is a male below 21 years or a female below 18 years
VOIDABLE MARRIAGE (Section 3) - the party who was a child may petition the district court for annulment; the petition must be filed within two years of attaining majority
VOID IN SPECIFIED CASES (Section 12) - a marriage is void if the minor was taken from a guardian by force, enticement or deceit, or was sold or trafficked for marriage
PROTECTS THE GIRL AND CHILDREN (Sections 4 to 6) - maintenance for the female party until her remarriage (paid by the husband, or his parents if he is a minor), custody orders for children, and children of such marriages remain legitimate
PUNISHMENT (Sections 9 to 11) - rigorous imprisonment up to two years and/or fine up to Rs 1 lakh for an adult male marrying a child, and for anyone solemnising, promoting or permitting it. No woman is punishable with imprisonment
INJUNCTIONS (Sections 13 and 14) - a magistrate can issue an injunction to stop a planned child marriage; a marriage conducted in violation of the injunction is void
SERIOUS OFFENCES (Section 15) - offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable
ENFORCEMENT MACHINERY (Section 16) - state governments appoint Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) to prevent marriages, collect evidence and create awareness
Frequency: Child marriage, its law and the marriageable-age debate are recurring UPSC GS-1 and GS-2 themes and common in SSC static GK; the new UN observance and Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat keep it current
Legal restraint on child marriage in India began as a social reform campaign in the colonial period. The 1929 Sarda Act only restrained such marriages with light penalties and did not invalidate them. The 2006 Act strengthened the law by making marriages voidable, adding void categories, creating dedicated officers and making offences cognizable.
Child Marriage Restraint Act (Sarda Act) passed in the Imperial Legislative Council; ages fixed at 14 for girls and 18 for boys
Sarda Act comes into force across British India
Minimum age for girls raised to 15
Minimum ages raised to 18 for girls and 21 for boys
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 receives assent
PCMA comes into force, replacing the 1929 Act
Independent Thought v. Union of India: sexual intercourse with a wife below 18 held to be rape
Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill introduced to raise women's marriage age to 21; later lapsed with the 17th Lok Sabha
Supreme Court issues guidelines in Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action v. Union of India
Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign launched in New Delhi
UN General Assembly proclaims 27 November the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage
Article 21, Constitution of India
Right to life and personal liberty, read by courts to include dignity, health and the choice of a partner - all denied by child marriage
Article 15(3), Constitution of India
Allows the State to make special provisions for women and children
Article 39(f), Constitution of India
Directive Principle that children be given opportunities to develop in freedom and dignity and that childhood be protected against exploitation
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
Defines child marriage, makes it voidable or void, punishes those responsible and creates CMPOs
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
Criminalises sexual acts with anyone below 18, including within a child marriage
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 - Section 63
The marital exception to rape applies only where the wife is not under 18, codifying the Independent Thought ruling
Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action v. Union of India (2024)
Supreme Court guidelines on prevention, protection and prosecution; recommended criminalising child betrothal; observed that personal laws must not hinder enforcement of the PCMA
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Nodal ministry; runs Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat
Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs)
Statutory officers under Section 16 who prevent child marriages and collect evidence
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
Statutory body monitoring child rights, including child marriage
UN General Assembly
Proclaimed 27 November as the international day against child, early and forced marriage
47.4%
26.8%
23.3%
2 years rigorous imprisonment
Rs 1 lakh
Within 2 years of attaining majority
Child-marriage-free India by 2030
SDG 5.3 - end child, early and forced marriage by 2030
Ending child, early and forced marriage is SDG target 5.3, due by 2030. On 4 September 2026 the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution, led by Sierra Leone, proclaiming 27 November the annual International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage. The resolution followed advocacy by Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone, and Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of Just Rights for Children, an Indian child-rights network. India backed it. For India, the date coincides with the launch of Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat on 27 November 2024, which asked every state and union territory to prepare action plans to bring child marriage below 5% by 2029.
PCMA 2006 in force 1 November 2007; replaced the Sarda Act, 1929
Child = boy below 21, girl below 18
Child marriage is voidable; void if trafficking, force or deceit is involved, or if an injunction is violated
Annulment petition within 2 years of attaining majority
Up to 2 years rigorous imprisonment and/or Rs 1 lakh fine; no woman imprisoned; cognizable and non-bailable
CMPOs under Section 16
2021 Amendment Bill (age 21 for women) lapsed with the 17th Lok Sabha
SC guidelines: 18 October 2024; Independent Thought: 2017
NFHS-5: 23.3% of women aged 20-24 married before 18
Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat: 27 November 2024; target 2030
UN day against child marriage: 27 November (proclaimed 4 September 2026); SDG 5.3
Under the Act, a man must have completed 21 years and a woman 18 years. A marriage involving anyone younger is a child marriage.
It is voidable at the option of the party who was a child, who may seek annulment within two years of attaining majority. It is void if the minor was trafficked, sold, taken by force or deceit, or if the marriage violated a court injunction.
An adult man who marries a child, and anyone who performs, promotes or permits a child marriage, faces rigorous imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh. No woman can be punished with imprisonment.
27 November. The UN General Assembly proclaimed it on 4 September 2026 through a consensus resolution led by Sierra Leone.
A national campaign launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on 27 November 2024 to make India child-marriage-free by 2030.
The employment of children below 14 in any occupation, prohibited by the Constitution and by the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
The gender-neutral special law that protects every person below 18 from sexual assault, harassment and exploitative material, and tries such cases in designated Special Courts.