New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition challenging the validity of a marriage law that prohibits a woman from marrying another man unless she gets an abortion, but the matter is likely to be decided within the next two weeks.
The case, filed by a woman who is facing death threats for marrying a man from another village, is one of the most significant challenges to India’s current patriarchal culture in recent years.
The petition was filed in December last year, just weeks after a ruling by the Delhi High Court struck down the country’s ban on inter-caste marriages, a provision which is seen as the primary reason behind India’s low fertility rate.
The Supreme Court has now granted an extension to the case, a decision that will allow the court to hear the case and decide the matter.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the NGO The Hindu against the Supreme Court’s judgment on March 1, which upheld the ban.
The court had earlier rejected the petition because the law was “unconstitutional and violates fundamental rights of the petitioner.”
The court had ruled that a woman could not marry a man she does not know.
The ruling was seen as a victory for a group of Hindu activists who have long argued that India’s patriarchal culture and patriarchal norms are not in line with Islamic teachings.
