Occurrences of Unregistered Marriages 168. Article 19(a) of Family Act states that, marriages solemnized in the Maldives, marriages solemnized abroad between Maldivians and marriages solemnized between a Maldivian and foreign national, shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Furthermore, Article 22 states that, when a Maldivian national contracts a marriage abroad in a country where there is an official representative office of the Maldives, the marriage should be registered within two months from the date of contract of the marriage, at that office, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Regulations made under it. If a marriage was contracted in a country where there is no official representative office of Maldives, in compliance with this section, the marriage should be registered in Maldives within six months from the date of contract of the marriage. According to article 62, it is an offence to remain in an unregistered marriage (without conforming to section 19 and section 22 of this Act). The offender shall be fined with MRF1,000 (US $ 64.85). 170. One of the media articles reported acknowledgment by the officials of Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the existence of unregistered marriages.67 Family Court further confirmed in the same article that they have been dealing with some cases of private marriages. HRCM also has identified issue of unregistered marriages in their monitoring visits to the atolls. 171. State should acknowledge and address the emerging grave issues of private marriages as it may lead to various other societal problems and even become a gateway for human trafficking. The State should undertake all appropriate measures in order to address the issue, especially from the viewpoint of those who are at the most disadvantaged; children born to these unregistered marriages. Chapter: Article 23‐ Family Rights 169. Due to a recent emergence of religious conservative ideologies in Maldives, it is enforcing the practice of contradictory viewpoints on the registration of marriages. These include strict instructions on following marriages according to some religious conservative ideologies that do not comply with the Maldivian Law. As per the aforementioned provisions of the Family Act, such marriages cannot be recognized as a valid marriage according to the Maldivian Law. It also complicates the divorce process of such marriages as they are considered illegal. This even leads the women (as bearer of the child) in the so called marriage to bear all the punishments entitled in Islamic Shari’ah, including flogging for fornication since the marriage will be illegal according to the domestic law. Family Court is aware of the fact that couples do solemnize marriage in other countries, and subsequently chooses to register the marriage in the country. However, Family Court has not yet recognized any marriage that was solemnized within the jurisdiction and later applied for registration. 65