72

Marriage by
Marriage
Officer,

Age limit and
consent of
parents,

Ch. 29. No. 5.] Hindu Marriage.

 

10. It shall be lawful for any Marriage Officer without
previous notice of the intended marriage being given and
without any other formality required by the Marriage
Ordinance to solemnize a marriage between persons
belonging to and professing the Hindu faith or religion;
and such marriage shall, subject to the provisions of this
Ordinance, be as valid as if it had been solemnized in
conformity with the provisions of the said Marriage
Ordinance.

11. (1) The age at which a person, being a member of
the Hindu faith or religion, is capable of contracting
marriage shall be eighteen vears in the case of males and
fourteen years in the case of females.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of the
preceding subsection, a marriage shall not be solemnized
by a Marriage Officer if the intended husband (not being a
widower) is under twenty-one years of age or the intended
wife (not being a widow) is under sixteen years of age unless
the consent to the marriage of the party who is under age
by virtue of the provisions of this subsection has been
given in accordance with the following provisions of this
section, and such consent is hereby required for the marriage
of such party-under age.

(3) The required consent may be given by the father
of the party under age, and if the father be dead by the
guardian or guardians appointed or one of them, and in
case there be no such guardian then by the mother of such
party so under age, and if the mother be dead then by such
other person as may be appointed for the purpose by the
Governor.

(4) In case the father, mother, or a guardian whose
consent to a marriage is required under the provisions
of the last preceding subsection is absent from the Colony
or is unable or refuses to give such consent or is not of
sound mind, it shall be lawful for the party in whose case
consent is required to apply to the Governor to appoint a
person, being a member of the Hindu community, to
investigate the circumstances of the intended marriage and
if after such investigation it shall appear to the person so
appointed that there are no reasonable objections to such