Mizoram amends marriage andother customary laws, bans polygamy

The Mizoram assembly on Tuesday passed the Mizo Marriage and Inheritance of Property (Amendment) Bill, 2026, altering the scope of the state’s customary law on marriage and inheritance and introducing a statutory ban on polygamy.
The amendment states that Mizo women who marry non-Mizos, along with their children and grandchildren, will no longer fall under the ambit of Mizo Customary Law, including its provisions relating to inheritance of property. The Bill was introduced and moved in the House by chief minister Lalduhoma, who also holds the law portfolio. Explaining the rationale behind the amendment, the CM said several sections and sub-sections of the principal Act enacted in 2014 required rectification and modification in view of evolving social realities and representations received from various organisations.
Lalduhoma pointed out that Section 2 of the existing Act currently covers all marriages involving men and women in Mizoram. Under the amended provision, however, the Act will apply only to marriages in which both parties belong to a Mizo tribe, or where the male partner belongs to a Mizo tribe.
As stated in Section 2 of the amendment, “This Act applies to all marriages where both the parties belong to Mizo tribe or where the male member to the marriage belongs to any Mizo tribe.”
Clarifying the intent of the amendment, the chief minister informed the House that Mizo women marrying non-Mizos will no longer be governed either 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 purposes of customary law and would not be entitled to claim Scheduled Tribe status under the said framework.
Lalduhoma said the amendment Bill was drafted after extensive consultations and suggestions from prominent civil society organisations and statutory bodies. These included the state’s apex women’s body, the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP), the Mizoram State Commission for Women (MSCW), the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP), and the Mizoram Law Commission.
A leader of the YMA central committee said 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 as members of Scheduled Tribes could act as a deterrent. He added that the amendment may also serve as a safeguard against what he described as the possible social assimilation of the Mizo community.
The amended Act will apply to all Mizo tribes and sub-tribes, excluding the three autonomous district councils and other tribes settled in the state that have their own distinct customary laws.