New Delhi, January 14: Former Madhya Pradesh minister and Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma on Wednesday asked why the minimum age of marriage for girls should be increased when girls are ready for reproduction at the age of 15 years.

"According to doctors, a girl is ready for reproduction by the age of 15. Is Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan a doctor or a scientist? So, on what basis does girls' marriage age should be increased from 18 to 21," Verma said at a press conference here. Minimum Age For Marriage For Girls in India: PM Narendra Modi Assures India's Daughters That Govt Will Decide Right Age Soon.

"What is the logic behind saying that girls' marriage age should be increased to 21 from 18," he added.

MLA from Sonkatch constituency, Verma was responding to a question asked by the reporters about the statement made by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a 'Nari Samman' program on Monday, wherein he had said that the marriage age of girls should be increased from 18 to 21 years.

Targeting the state government, the former minister said that the BJP government is "failing to protect minor girls".

"Madhya Pradesh has topped when it comes to the number of rapes against minors. The Chief Minister is playing politics full of hypocrisy, instead of taking strict action in such cases," he added.

On Monday, at a felicitation ceremony to honour people who work for the safety of girl children, Chouhan had said that crimes against women have reduced by 15 per cent the state in the past nine months since he assumed power.

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