The women's association said the amended law attempts to legalize polygamy and called it retrogressive and objectionable.
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The Nepal Women's Association has demanded that the proposed law to exempt polygamy be stopped immediately, saying that it is irresponsible. On Sunday, Women's Association submitted a memorandum to Law Minister Ajay Kumar Chaurasia demanding that the proposed law to exempt polygamy be irresponsible.
Nepal Women's Association is of the opinion that the proposed law to give legal validity to polygamy under certain circumstances by amending the recently published Civil Civil (Code) Act, 2074 is irresponsible, regressive and objectionable.
Such steps have the audacity to destroy decades of achievements in the field of women's rights and reinstate the practice of polygamy as a tool of oppression against women for centuries. The association concluded. The government has prepared a draft bill to amend Section 72 of the Civil (Code) Act, 2074.
In the proposed system, regardless of what is written elsewhere in this section, a provision has been made that if a man has a child born from physical contact with another woman in a marital relationship, he can marry such a woman if he wishes to marry. It is the conclusion of Women's Association that has a clear intention to legalize criminal offenses like polygamy.
Union president Usha Rawat Mishra said that it is the responsibility of the state to protect the rights of single women and their children. She warned that they cannot remain silent when the achievements gained through hard struggle are undermined. Muluki Dewani (Code), 2074 has clearly provided that any married man cannot marry a woman while the marital relationship continues and such marriage is automatically annulled.
