New Mizoram law limits customary rights for women marrying outsiders
The Assembly unanimously amends the Mizo Marriage and Inheritance Act, changing inheritance and ST status norms
Mizoram Legislative Assembly (Photo - @MizoramGovernor / X)
Aizawl, Feb 26: In a significant legislative move with far-reaching social implications, the Mizoram Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Mizo Marriage and Inheritance of Property (Amendment) Bill, 2026, altering the scope of the State’s customary law in matters of marriage and inheritance.
The amendment stipulates that Mizo women marrying non-Mizos, along with their children and grandchildren, would no longer fall under the purview of the Mizo Customary Law, including provisions relating to inheritance of property.
The Bill was introduced in the House by Chief Minister Lalduhoma, who also holds the Law and Judicial portfolio.
Moving the amendment, the Chief Minister explained that several sections and sub-sections of the principal Act enacted in 2014, required rectification and modification in the light of emerging social realities and representations received from various organisations.
He pointed out that Section 2 of the existing Act currently covers all marriages involving men and women in Mizoram.
However, under the amended provision, the Act will apply only to marriages where both parties belong to a Mizo tribe, or where the male partner belongs to a Mizo tribe.
Clarifying the intent of the amendment, Lalduhoma informed the House that Mizo women marrying non-Mizos, would no longer be governed by the Mizo Marriage and Inheritance of Property Act or by the Mizo Customary Law.
He further stated that such women, along with their children and grandchildren, would not be regarded as Mizos for the purpose of customary law and would not be entitled to claim ST status under the said framework.
The Chief Minister said that the amendment Bill was drafted after extensive consultations and suggestions from prominent civil society bodies and statutory institutions, including the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl, Mizoram State Commission for Women, Young Mizo Association, Mizoram Upa Pawl, and Mizoram Law Commission.
A leader of the YMA central committee said that the proposed change to Section 2 was recommended against the backdrop of a growing number of Mizo women marrying non-Mizos.
According to him, the provision that such women and their descendants would cease to be recognised as Mizos and STs may act as a deterrent.
He added that the amendment could also serve as a safeguard against what he described as the possible social assimilation of the Mizo community.
The passage of the Bill marks a pivotal development in the State’s legal framework governing personal law, and is expected to generate discussion across social, legal, and Constitutional spheres in the days ahead.