India a poor country, everybody wants to marry off their daughter at early age: Samajwadi Party MP

Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq on Friday said that India is a 'poor' country and everybody wants to marry off their daughter at an early age.

"India is a poor country and everybody wants to marry off their daughter at an early age... I will not support this Bill in Parliament," Shafiqur told reporters here today on the Union Cabinet giving nod to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.

Girls should be married when they attain the age of fertility, said Samajwadi Party MP ST Hasan.

Speaking to ANI, Hasan said, "The fertility age of women ranges from 16-17 years to 30 years. Proposals for marriage start coming at the age of 16. If the marriage is delayed, there are two disadvantages: One is the possibility of infertility. The second is that children are not settled when one is ageing. When you are in your last decade or so of life, your children are still students. We are breaking the natural cycle."

"I believe that when a girl is mature and attains the age of fertility, she should get married. If a girl is mature at 16, she can get married at 16. If she can vote at 18, why can't she get married?" he added.

Indiscipline increases in youngsters as they grow older when they watch pornographic videos and photos, the SP MP said.

"We have allowed live-in relationships which shows that indiscipline has increased. Hormonal changes at this stage may lead to crimes," he said.

However, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from his party MP's statements and said his party is a progressive and had launched schemes for the development of girls and women.

"Samajwadi Party has nothing to do with any such statements," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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