Christian marrying a hindu
NSharma
(Querist) 31 August 2015
This query is : Resolved
Hello,
My friend, who is Hindu, is going to marry a Christian guy. She is only child and grew up in a joint family. She read somewhere that the girl can loose her claim over family property if she marries outside her religion. Please provide insights on the same. Also, should they get married under special marriage act and which religion their children will follow, legally.
Thanks in advance.
SAINATH DEVALLA
(Expert) 31 August 2015
A change of religion and loss of caste was at one time considered as grounds for forfeiture of property and exclusion of inheritance. However, this has ceased to be the case after the passing of the Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850.
Section 1 of the Caste Disabilities Removal Act inter alia provides that if any law or (customary) usage in force in India would cause a person to forfeit his/her rights on property or may in any way impair or affect a person’s right to inherit any property, by reason of such person having renounced his/her religion or having been ex-communicated from his/her religion or having been deprived of his/her caste, then such law or (customary) usage would not be enforceable in any court of law.
The Caste Disabilities Removal Act intends to protect the person who renounces his religion.
In the case of E. Ramesh and Anr. v. P. Rajini and 2 Ors. [(2002) 1 MLJ 216], a division bench of the Madras high court has held that by virtue of section 1 of the Caste Disabilities Removal Act, the conversion of a Hindu to another religion will not disentitle the convert to his right of inheritance to the property.
As stated above, a Hindu convert does not lose the right to inherit property under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Therefore, your sister is entitled to inherit her share in her father’s property and the Hindu Succession Act shall apply to her with regard to her right to inherit her share in her father’s property.
It may be noted that section 26 of the Hindu Succession Act states that if a Hindu has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion, children born to the convert after such conversion and their descendants shall be disqualified from inheriting the property of any of their Hindu relatives, unless such children or descendants are Hindus at the time when the succession opens. However, this section has no impact on the convert’s right to inherit property from her Hindu relatives and shall only apply to the children born after conversion and their descendants.
NSharma
(Querist) 01 September 2015
hello,
thank you for your reply, my friend is not interested in converting to Christianity and even her in-laws are okay with this decision.Will it be preferable if they married under special marriage act and what religion will their children follow?
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 01 September 2015
In such circumstances, they have to marry under special marriage act.
SAINATH DEVALLA
(Expert) 01 September 2015
Inter-Religion Marriage:
by Meera Chowdhry
With the changing of times, we are getting more and more open and accepting our fellow human beings precisely on their personal qualities. It’s not any more a Hindu or a Muslim or a White or a Black so to say… well to some extent.
Inter-religious and Inter-racial marriages are getting equally acceptable and common. However, to be a success, any marriage requires two people who are respecting, responsible, honest and sincere. When two people meet in matrimony, they should respect each other, especially so if it’s an inter-religion marriage. It is very important to remember that all the religions teach the same basic goodness.
It is very unfortunate, that the religion has become a business and source of power for some and a reason for conflict among people of different beliefs. If we learn to respect others' religion and leave them alone with their preferences, this world will be a happier place.
Over the years, we have spent time or should I say wasted time in proving that a certain somebody’s religion is better. In the process, there are instances, when things have gotten very ugly. We actually do not attain anything by proving our religion better than the others. Do we ever create big fights over proving our spouse better than the others, or our children better than the others? Don’t we all know or believe that our children are the best yet we never try to prove it to others. I personally believe we only want to prove something, which we are not very sure of. If one is sure that his religion is better then there is no need for him to feel inferior about it. That’s the way religion should be we know our religion is better – that’s the reason we have adopted it. It is personal – to each its own.
Religion is a way of life. We by the virtue of being born in a certain religious backdrop learn to follow a way of praying or accepting God as Christ or Krishna and so forth. Thus following the teachings. I don’t see the teachings of Krishna any different than that of Christ. How does it matter then which religion is ancient?
The second most important factor in an inter-religion marriage is the religion followed by the children. There is a constant hustle in the parents that the child follows his/her religion. Isn’t it more important that a child becomes a good human being? This can be taught to him by adopting the goodness of both the religions. Here, it’s very important for parents not to be selfish. We should focus on teaching the child good values which everyone would agree is the basis of every single religion. There have been instances, when adults abandon the religion given to them by their parents and adopt some other religion that they are convinced is better. I think we should let our children decide what religion they would like to adopt when they are capable of deciding for themselves.
It is very unfortunate, that the religion has become a business and source of power for some and a reason for conflict among people of different beliefs. It is sad but in the past 25 years of our marriage, most of our Hindu acquaintances have looked down upon Christianity and most of our Christian acquaintances have suggested ideas as to how I can convert my husband.
Unperturbed, we both have learnt to respect each others' individuality, each others religious beliefs, faith and preferences, thereby making our inter-religion marriage a successful one and this world a little more happier and a harmonious place to live.
True, If we learn to respect others religion and leave them alone with their preferences, this world will be a happier place.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 01 September 2015
your question
Will it be preferable if they married under special marriage act and what religion will their children follow?
ANS : Do they have a choice.
T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate
(Expert) 06 September 2015
A Hindu and a Christian can marry each other but their marriage ca be registered under the special marriages act only. The question of forfeiture of property due to either shall not arise because the marriage doe not disentitled their rights due to them in the property. Their children can follow either of the religion there is no compulsion on the children to follow any particular religion.
