Kupastuntas.co, Central Lampung - The number of underage marriages that get a marriage dispensation from the Class 1B Gunung Sugih Religious Court (PA) is quite surprising and has increased from 2021 to 2022.

Public Relations of the Gunung Sugih Religious Court, Muhamad Ilhamuna, explained that the Gunung Sugih Religious Court accepts quite a lot of proposals for child marriage trials.

"We received 148 underage marriage dispensations in 2021 and 145 were granted, 3 were revoked," said PA Public Relations, Monday (16/1/23).

"In 2022 there was an increase of 174 dispensations for underage marriages, 167 were granted, 7 were revoked," he said again.

Muhamad Ilhamuna stated, regarding the dispensation of underage marriages, his party did not immediately grant the request, but made efforts to postpone the marriage until the age limit allowed.

The advice given included, regarding the risks of underage marriage, regarding the obligation to earn a living, and also their emotional condition which was still unstable.

"We provide input in as much detail as possible, regarding education that will drop out of school, domestic violence, but of all the dispensations, there are very few who follow it," said Ilham.

According to Ilham, there are several factors that make someone ask for dispensation for underage marriage, the most common occurrence is getting pregnant first, because the family knows that they are told to get married.

"Here for the dispensation of underage marriage, both parents must be present, apart from that there must be a recommendation from the child protection agency and the Health Service. Because these are still underage, the average is still 16-17 years old, and they are still in high school and some are even still in junior high school," he said.

Chairman of the Central Lampung Child Protection Agency, Eko Yuono explained regarding the recommendation for a marriage dispensation, he admitted that his party did not just give it away.

"However, we summon both parties, or they come to our office, we ask either the children or their parents, based on these reasons we will issue recommendations later," he explained.

According to Eko, the party that most submitted recommendations for underage marriages were high school level students, and most of the women were not old enough, while the average male was over 20 years old, but some were underage.

Eko explained that the high number of underage marriages certainly made him concerned, because according to him, parental supervision was very important so that their children would not get involved in promiscuity. (*)