Marriage Through Legal Lense

Generally, marriage is seen to be the joining of two individuals and their families. Marriage was traditionally thought to be consummated between two people of different sexes, but same-sex unions are increasingly accepted as legitimate unions. Western so

In Layman, 's words, marriage is defined as the union between people and their families, but the legal meaning of marriage is different. Section 68 of Muluki Civil Code 2074 of Nepal states that marriage shall be a permanent, inviolable, and holy social and legal bond, which is based on free consent and established to start conjugal and family life between a man and a woman and is concluded when a man and a woman accept each other as the husband and wife through any occasion, ceremony, formal, or other act. The consent of both parties is required to carry out the marriage. The legal age of marriage is set by the respective country's law. The legal age to get married in Nepal is 20 for both parties, whereas it is 18 and 21 for girls and boys, respectively, in India. Marrying before the respective legal age is taken as child marriage and is punishable according to the law.

The marriage to get legal validity must be registered under the respective ward office only after the registration is the marriage deemed to be said to be legal. If the couple doesn’t register their marriage, it doesn’t get legal validity, and no legal help can be given to the couple in case of a dispute. A couple can also reach out to the court to carry out their marriage, termed a court marriage. Here, the court is directly involved in carrying out the marriage.

Marriage has different types; among them, intercultural or interfaith marriage is also one of them. The act of marriage between two different cultures is called intercultural marriage (e.g., people raised and brought up in Newari culture marrying a person brought up in Aryan culture), whereas marriage between two different religions is called interfaith marriage (e.g., people from Hinduism marrying a Muslim person). Though intercultural and interfaith marriages are legally acceptable, some families find it difficult to accept such marriages. Marriage not only joins two people but also the family; marrying without the family's interest or acceptance may create a mental issue between the couple.

Though there is no logical reasoning behind a family not accepting an intercultural and interfaith marriage, they back their thought by stating that marrying in different cultures and religions may create an issue in a happy marriage and reduce the chance of a happy marriage. But in today's modern context, some families don’t hesitate to accept intercultural and interfaith marriage and set an example in society. Slowly, the world is changing, and with time, the traditional mindset that has been rooted in families is changing. As a result, the acceptance of intercultural and interfaith marriage is increasing in the family.

Despite a family not accepting intercultural or interfaith marriage, it is considered illegal for a family to interfere in someone's marriage unless the couple is not eligible to get married at the age provided by the law itself. If the family interferes in the marriage of the couple who are of legal age to marry, the family can be sued according to the available law.

The law of Nepal has no boundaries in carrying out intercultural or interfaith marriage, but there are restrictions by the Nepalese law in carrying out incest marriage except if the culture allows it. Though incest marriage is considered illegal according to Section 70, Subsection 1b of the Muluki Civil Code 2074, there is an exception to that in Sub-section 2 of Section 70 of the same code, which states incest marriage is acceptable if it is done as a part of the cultures of some communities. (The Tamang, Gurung, Limbu, etc. communities of Nepal carry out incest marriage as a part of their culture.)

For the marriage to take place, the person doesn't need to be from the same country; people from different countries can also get married to each other and get registered here in Nepal if they can fulfill the required documents. A Nepali citizen can also get married to a foreigner and get their marriage registered here in Nepal. A marriage carried out with a foreigner or in a foreign land gets validity only when the marriage gets registered as per Section 79 of the Muluki Civil Code 2074.