Marriage, mental illness and law.
The Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1955 have put restrictions on the marriage of persons with mental illness, which are proving to be detrimental to patients and their families. There is an urgent need to address this problem. The deficiencies in the existing legislation have been projected and constructive suggestions have been put forward.
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Indira
I
Sharma
Manasa Hospital, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Karri Rama
KR
Reddy
Department of Psychiatry, Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Rabindra Mukund
RM
Kamath
Legislation; marriage; mental illness