West Bengal has the highest proportion of females (6.3 per cent) getting married before the age of 18 years followed by Jharkhand (4.6 per cent) – both significantly above the national level of 2.1 per cent, according to the latest statistical report of the Sample Registration System (SRS) published this month.What do these figures underscore about the existing legal framework on marriage? It must be noted here that women’s rights activists have seen law as a significant site for seeking social reform. They have continuously urged state intervention in issues related to gender and marriage to address the gender parity gap. However, there are other social identities, such as caste, community, religion, etc., that have been seen as impediments to gender equity, further complicating efforts to reform marriage and gender norms through legal means. Before examining the significant changes made in marriage and maintenance laws over the years, let’s briefly explore different practices of marriage. Emergence of monogamous familyHistorically, monogamy has not been the only form of marriage. In The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), Friedrich Engels argues that changes in material conditions shape the organisation of family relations. Before the monogamous family, there existed a state of unregulated sexual relations. Engels looks at the emergence of the monogamous family as an economic institution designed to ensure the inheritance of private property. In the Indian context, anthropologist Kathleen Gough’s extensive work on the Nayars of Kerala shows that they followed a matrilineal kinship system in which property and lineage were traced through women. Their marital practices were not monogamous but based on sambandham – a form of visiting relationship with the husband without involving cohabitation. Children belonged to the mother’s matrilineal joint family, known as the taravad, and the maternal uncles were the key male authority figures. A woman was also allowed to have more than one husband. However, Gough saw the practice of sambandham as a form of marriage – a relationship established between a woman and one or more partners that granted children full rights within the kinship structure. But colonial interventions and subsequently the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 saw such practices as immoral and illegal. Story continues below this adMust Read | How Earth’s shifting forces drive quakes, floods and climate extremesDebate about polyandry Polyandry has also existed in several parts of India, including in the Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh and the Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand, among the Hatti community. The members of the community see themselves as descendants of Pandavas from the Mahabharata and practice jodidara – a form of polyandry to prevent land fragmentation. The recent marriage of Sunita Chauhan to two brothers, Kapil Negi and Pradeep Negi, created quite an internet storm, also reigniting debates about the legality of polyandry in India. While the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prohibits polyandry, it is protected by the Himachal Pradesh High Court as part of customary law for the Hattis, who are a Scheduled tribe (ST) community. Such cases highlight the tensions between customary and constitutional laws, with questions of women’s agency often taking a backseat. At the same time, this tension is not unique to India. In neighbouring Sri Lanka, polyandry in Kandyan areas was tied to landholding patterns. Anthropologist Edmund Leach has shown that the practice prevented the fragmentation of agricultural land among brothers by maintaining property jointly. Much like the case of the Nayars in Kerala, the British colonial administration discouraged and delegitimised polyandry amongst the Kandyan. Through such interventions, material and legal conditions promoted monogamy as the preferred mode of marriage. Story continues below this adCultural norms and gendered power structuresIn contemporary times, matrilineal societies like the Khasis in Meghalaya are under social pressure. Groups like Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai (or ‘Home Hearth Restructured’) are advocating for the abolition of matriliny, arguing that it ‘emasculates’ men. However, scholars like Tiplut Nongbri and others have shown that while matriliny gives women more visibility and property rights, patriarchal control is still exercised in key areas like decision making and leadership. This tension between cultural norms and gendered power structures draws attention to a broader challenge in reforming family institutions. However, it is found that regulating practices like dowry and domestic violence are relatively easier than making the institution of marriage equitable.Nonetheless, both globally and in India, feminist movements have pressed for legal interventions to bridge the gap between the public and the private. The slogan, personal is political, captures this shift in feminist discourse, as issues like housework, domestic violence, and dowry – that have been historically relegated to ‘family matters’ – are incorporated within the legal framework. For instance, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and its subsequent amendments in 1976 and 1984 redefined dowry from a personal matter to a punishable crime. Similarly, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) was enacted in 2005 to protect women of all communities from domestic abuse. Story continues below this adRead First Part | How the idea of marriage has evolved over timeAre legal reforms sufficient to bring change? Although significant reforms have been introduced in marriage and maintenance laws, further improvements remain necessary. For instance, a more consistent and standardised judicial interpretation of existing grounds for divorce – like cruelty, desertion, and adultery – may help reduce the influence of moralistic or subjective biases. Similarly, making child custody laws more gender-equal would help encourage co-parenting and healthier models of separation. The divorce process itself needs to be streamlined and made more accessible. For instance, in cases of abuse, the mandatory mediation or “cooling off” period may be reconsidered. At the same time, it is important to recognise that while the law is a significant site for bringing reform, it is not sufficient on its own. Marriage as an institution reflects broader social inequality, and therefore, meaningful reforms require social interventions alongside legal reforms.Post read questionsHow have material and legal conditions shaped the dominance of monogamy over other forms of marriage?Story continues below this adTo what extent can legal reforms like the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) or Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act (2005) alter entrenched social norms about women’s rights?How do cases like the Hatti community’s polyandry highlight conflicts between constitutional law and customary law?How has the feminist slogan “the personal is political” influenced the legal recognition of domestic violence, dowry, and other “private” issues?Can marriage ever be made a truly equitable institution within existing patriarchal social structures?Story continues below this ad(Rituparna Patgiri is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati.)Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with ashiya.parveen@indianexpress.com.Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.