Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday distanced itself from party MPs who said they will not support the bill to raise minimum marriage age of women.
SP Lok Sabha MP Shafiqur Rahman Burq said he will not support the bill, whenever it is brought for discussion in Parliament.
The reason, Burq said, is that since "India is a poor country, parents may want to marry off their daughters at an early age".
“We are a poor country, so many people may wish to get their girls married at an early age. As far as the girls' education is concerned, it is possible for them to be educated either in their own home, or at their in-laws' place,” news agency ANI quoted the SP MP as saying.
Samajwadi Party MP ST Hasan also opposed the change, adding that there is nothing wrong in a girl getting married even at the age of 16.
"Girls should be married when they attain age of fertility. There is nothing wrong if a mature girl is married at 16", Hasan was quoted as saying by ANI. "If a girl can vote at the age of 18, why can't she marry?", he added.
Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the party has nothing to do with any such statement. "Samajwadi Party is a progressive party & has launched schemes for progress of girls & women," he added.