Shillong: Michael Syiem says the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act is toothless. The Maitshaphrang Movement convenor labeled the law a “paper tiger” during a press briefing in Shillong on Monday. He claims the government failed to define “optional purposes,” leaving the statute effectively useless.
A 2016 RTI inquiry proved government departments ignored the registration requirement. The law simply lacked teeth. The situation worsened in 2022 when an amendment stripped language requiring marriage certificates for optional purposes from the preamble and Section 3 of the Act. Syiem now wants the state to demand marriage certificates for official benefits, much like they do for Scheduled Tribe status.
Women remain vulnerable. Many face abandonment without any legal way to prove their marital status to secure aid for their children. Syiem pointed to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, who previously admitted that unregistered cohabitation harms families across the state. The movement has now petitioned the Meghalaya State Commission for Women to force the government into action.
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