DHAKA: A law, with provision of a two-year jail term for anyone involved in marrying a girl aged under 18, has been approved in a bid to cut the country’s high child marriage rate.

The new law comes days after new United Nations figures showed two-third of girls marry before they reach adulthood.

The law will target the parents or guardians and the marriage register, and also the groom.

Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said, “Anyone found responsible for child marriage, including the groom, the marriage registers or the guardians, will be jailed for up to two years’.

The current legal age for marriage in the country is 18 for women and 21 for men.

Child marriage is punishable by up to three months’ jail but the law is poorly enforced.

The bill is expected to be passed during the ongoing Parliament session, the cabinet secretary told media.

According to the laws, girls and women will not be punished for marrying an underage man.

BDST: 2110 HRS, SEP 15, 2014