COLOMBO, June 4 -- A civil society group has called for the repeal of Sri Lanka's Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, arguing that provisions of the law are inconsistent with international child rights standards and constitutional guarantees.

A delegation led by Ven. Akmeemana Dayarathana Thera, chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Sinhalese Buddhist political party Sinhala Ravaya, on Thursday (4) submitted a complaint to the United Nations office in Colombo seeking international attention to the issue.

The complaint contends that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951 permits child marriage and is incompatible with the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to which Sri...