ABSTRACT
The grave evil of child marriage and premature maternity and the right of the State to take cognizance of it and intervene have been recognized by Indian administrators for nearly a century. Hindu and Muslim ancient law severely punished the offence of rape outside marriage, but the idea of making intercourse between husband and wife below a certain age illegal seems to have originated with the Law Commissioners who drafted the Indian Penal Code in 1846. The Code, finally enacted in 1860, prescribed a punishment which might extend to transportation for life for the husband who consummated his marriage when the wife was under ten years old. 1
