Any marriage carried out below the age of 18 years, before the girl is physically, physiologically and psychologically ready to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and childbearing is called early marriage. Bangladesh has one of the world’s highest rates of early marriage. The legal age limit for marriage for boys and girls in Bangladesh is 21 and 18 years respectively. But according to studies 33 percent of Bangladeshi girls are married off before the age of 15. The girls of the extreme poverty – ridden families in slums of the towns and cities and of villages mainly are the victims of premature marriage. The parents of their families cannot afford to send their girls to schools and and the girls cannot provide the parents with jobs. Thus situation force the parents to get them marry off early. Only poverty plays a key role here. But an adolescent girl’s dream comes to an end for ever being pulled out of school owing to early marriage. Sometimes, an adolescent girl, being immature, is abused by her husband and even by her in-laws. Early Marriage may break down her health. A young wife is being conceived to suffer from malnutrition and other diseases. As a result, numerous problems are created in society. For example, she gives birth to weak and handicapped infant which is alarming not only for society but also for the country. So, this practice of early marriage should be stopped. To encourage females education, our government has already taken some positive steps, such as giving stipend to girls, recruiting more female teachers and so on. This will also help stopping premature marriage. To solve this problem, mass awareness programme should be launched so that people may easily realize the demerits of premature marriage.
