Bangla Hunt/Pallab Ghosh
In a bizzare diktat, the Government of Eritra has ordered men to marry two women or face imprisonment. Similarly, it has warned the wives not to create obstacle or try to prevent their husbands from second marriage. Those found doing so will be given life imprisonment. This has been officially notified on the internet. There was a time when polygamy was considered a social evil in this country. According to Eritra Government, this has been done to meet the requirement of men which is less compared to the ratio of women.
The women are more in number as compared to male, thus have been facing problems in finding husbands. Eritrea once had a population of nearly four million people with a balance between male and female sex-ratio.
Like average African countries, men in Eritra too had join Army to fight
liberation war. An estimate shows over 150 000 soldiers lost their lives in the sucession war from Ethiopia that took place between1998 and 2000.
However, no civilised society can ever support legal polygamy. Intelectuals across the world have reacted to ghis bizzare dictat which questions the dignity of women. Social media has been abuzz with comments, reactions…
Made in India