The women and children affairs minister, Abu Zafar Mohammad Zahid Hossain, on Monday informed the Jatiya Sangsad that the government had initiated steps to amend the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2017, making the use of digital birth registration records mandatory for marriage registration.

During the seventh sitting of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad’s second session, he said that the drafting of the new law was underway with technical support from UNICEF and UNFPA.

The proposed amendment would close legal loopholes that allow child marriages under ‘special circumstances’, he said in a written reply to a question from Cumilla-4 lawmaker Abul Hasnat.

A key feature of the amendment would be the mandatory use of online or digital birth registration records, instead of manual birth certificates, for marriage registration, he said.

The move is aimed at preventing the use of forged birth registration documents, which are often used to hide the real age of underage brides and grooms.

Elaborating on his question, Abul Hasnat said that Bangladesh remained among the countries with the highest rates of child marriage in South Asia, citing UNICEF's Global Child Marriage Index 2026.

He alleged that underage marriages continued in remote areas through the exploitation of legal exceptions and the manipulation of birth registration records.

Responding to the question, the minister said that monitoring and enforcement remained difficult as a significant number of marriages were conducted according to religious practices without formal registration.

He stressed that preventing child marriage would require coordinated efforts by law enforcement agencies, local administrations, members of parliament and local government representatives.