Present: Porter and Schneider JJ.

THIAGARAJA v. KURUKAL.

60-D. C. Jaffna, 4,971.

Brahmin marrying a girl of eleven years according to Hindu rites-Sub sequent cohabitation of spouses for several years--Is marriage valid ?-Marriage Ordinance applicable to Hindu marriages- Recognition of marriage according to Hindu rites is only as to solemnization.

A Brahmin married a, girl when she was eleven years and one month old according to Hindu customary ceremonies. The spouses cohabited after the female had attained puberty and lived for some years as husband and wife, and were received as such by their relations and friends.

Held, that the marriage was not valid. Subsequent cohabitation did not render the marriage valid ab initio.

The recognition of customary marriages is a recognition only of the custom as to the mode of solemnization and nothing else. The Marriage Ordinance must be regarded as applicable to all marriages in regard to all other matters about which it contains express provisions. The provisions of the Ordinance as to the prohibited age of marriage (section 16), prohibited degrees of relationship (section 17), incest (section