Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health Education 2016 Further, religious beliefs were cited as another reason why unregistered marriages take place. Even though they are few in number, there are some religious groups among the community who believed that registering a marriage through the courts is not necessary for a marriage to be legal according to Islamic teachings. The Maldivian Constitution, in accordance with the Child Rights Act of Maldives 9/91 and CRC, states that individuals below the age of 18 are children. The minimum age requirement for a person to get married is stated as 18 years in The Family Act of Maldives. In the circumstances where a person who has not completed 18 years of age makes an application to marry, the decision is left at the discretion of the Registrar of Marriages. Before any such marriage can take place, the registrar at the Family Court needs to evaluate whether the child in question is mentally and physically ready for a marriage based on whether he or she has attained puberty, has the competence to maintain a livelihood and also on the reasons for contracting the marriage.48 However, it was evident from the FGDs that some religious fundamentalists might disregard this as it contradicts with the Islamic Sharia which states that a girl has reached a marriageable age once she has reached puberty. Therefore, there may be cases where some may think it is acceptable to get married without registration through the courts. Likewise, some participants discussed that it was also a common phenomenon among some Maldivian men to travel abroad in order to have a second marriage. According to the participants this usually happened when the men wanted to get married without the consent or knowledge of his first wife. Islamic sharia gives a man the right to have four wives given that they fulfill 48 Family Act, 2004. 63 THEMATIC ANALYSIS