A 28-year-old Aranguez, San Juan mechanic is planning to sue the State after he was detained and interrogated by police for almost 24 hours in connection with his marriage to his 17-year-old girlfriend.
Police had initially held Mitchum Deosingh on Monday but were forced to release him yesterday afternoon after his attorney, Nikolas Ali, pointed out his marriage to the minor was legal as the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Act is yet to be be proclaimed.
Investigators are also now seeking the public's assistance in locating his wife, who went missing on August 27 after the issue with their marriage was raised by police and her relatives.
Checks on the Parliament's website yesterday afternoon revealed that Ali was correct, as it stated the legislation was still "awaiting proclamation."
The legislation, which raised the age of consent for marriage to 18, was passed by Parliament in June and received assent from President Anthony Carmona. However it can only take effect after proclamation.
In a brief telephone interview, Ali said: "We have intentions of fighting a case for unlawful arrest because at the end of the day he did not commit any offence."
Ali also called on Carmona and Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to clarify the uncertainty over the proclamation of the legislation introduced to tackle the controversial issue of child marriage. He noted that until the legislation is proclaimed people like his client could be legally married under the Hindu, Muslim or Orisha marriage laws but also be in breach of offences against a child under the Children's Act.
"It is an interesting point because it is causing confusion with the police and the legal fraternity," Ali said.
Contacted yesterday to shed light on the issue, protocol officer for the Office of the President Theron Boodhan advised the T&T Guardian to send the query on the proclamation via email.
However, he stated: "Let me put it this way, anything dealing with proclamation that comes to the President is dealt with very swiftly. If there is some kind of delay, it is someone else holding it up."
No response to the email request had been received up to late yesterday.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, however, Al-Rawi said the proclamation would take place shortly.
"The proclamation is just awaiting the finalisation of the forms which Parliamentary Council and Registrar General has just provided. The issue will then go to Cabinet for its consideration," he said.
In a interview yesterday, Deosingh explained that he met his wife in December last year and they decided to get married after a seven-month relationship.
"We met in Christmas last year. Since then every single day we there together, so we end up falling in love," Deosingh said.
The couple allegedly told his wife's relatives of their plans but they were strongly opposed to it.
"They probably wanted a doctor for her but I'm just a mechanic," Deosingh said, as he noted her family was not initially opposed to the relationship despite their age difference.
On August 23 the couple eloped after the assistance of a pundit from Bamboo Settlement and in the presence of two witness. Deosingh said several days after the ceremony he and his wife went to the Barataria Police Station to seek assistance in retrieving her clothes and personal items from her home.
"We went to police station with a letter from a Justice of the Peace stating that she left home on her own free will. We tell police we legally married under Hindu rights and we would like for somebody to go with us to collect her stuff," Deosingh said.
He said officers of the Child Protection Unit intervened and questioned the validity of their marriage. They later returned his wife to her relatives, but did not arrest Deosingh until this week. Deosingh's wife went missing the following day and is yet to be found.
"I know she would be safe, she probably somewhere just relaxing or something. I want her come back home because I love her and that is my wife," he said.
Commenting on the minor's disappearance, Deosingh's attorney questioned whether the issue with the legislation would cause further confusion when she is eventually found or returns home.
"She is 17, but she is legally married. If she were to come into the station what would be the case? Is it that relatives can take her home because she is not yet 18?" Ali asked.