Assam Child marriage: 4,004 cases have already been filed, and more than 2,000 people have been arrested.
Assam Child Marriage: The Assam government has launched an extensive campaign against child marriage, and women have reacted by showing up in large numbers to protest the arrest of their husbands and sons.
This Friday marked the start of a six-day statewide crackdown that the Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had previously announced.
“Why take only the men? How will we and or our children survive? We have no means of income,” Niroda Doley, a 55-year-old woman from the Majuli district, told PTI.
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Jehira Begum, a resident of the Dhubri district, defended her 19-year-old son by acknowledging that he had brought a girl from his college with him but insinuating that they had not wed. After the girl’s father lodged a police complaint, her husband and son were arrested as part of the crackdown.
A Barpeta district woman who wished to remain anonymous claimed her son had run off with a young girl. She questioned, “He made a mistake, but why arrest my husband?
“My daughter-in-law was 17 when she got married,” said Monowara Khatoon of Morigaon. She is now 19 years old and five months pregnant. Who will look after her?
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4,004 cases have already been filed, and more than 2,000 people have been arrested. Police stated that they had a list of 8,000 suspects and that the search would go on. The police have arrested 51 purohits and Kazis who performed these wedding rituals in religious contexts.
Biswanath district had the most arrests (137) up till Friday night, followed by Dhubri (126), Baksa (120), Barpeta (114), and Kokrajhar (96).
The state cabinet recently decided that cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, would be filed against those who had married girls between the ages of 14 and 18. Those who had married girls younger than 14 would be charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (Pocso) Act.
The police is to act in a “spirit of zero tolerance against the unpardonable and horrific crime on women,” according to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Assam has a high maternal and infant mortality rate, with child marriage as the main contributing factor. On an average, 31% of marriages recorded in the state occur when the couple is under the legal marriage age.
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