Assam: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi takes dig at state government over crackdown on child marriage, calls it a PR exercise

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on February 4 took a dig at the Assam government over its crackdown against child marriages in the state and called it a PR exercise.

Gogoi also claimed that in Assam people have completely rejected the initiative of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to crack down on child marriage.

''It seems the police are instructed to investigate cases that are decades old without proper enquiry or adherence to procedure. It’s a farce,'' he Tweeted.

He also alleged that during the tenure of the Assam government cases of mafia, crimes against women have increased.

''It is a PR exercise for the Chief Minister under whose tenure - cases of mafia, crimes against women and elderly, drugs and kidnappings have increased. Police are reprimanded by high courts for failing their investigation esp in the Arnamai Bora murder case,'' he added.

It is worth mentioning that the Assam government is carrying out a crackdown against child marriages which has also invited criticism from the political fraternity.

As per the latest development, police in Assam have so far claimed to have registered around 4074 cases and arrested around 2258 persons in the last two days. 

Biswanath district has the highest number of arrested persons which stands at 139 and 97 cases have been registered in the district. On the other hand, Barpeta district has the second-highest number of arrests made which stands at 128 and the total number of cases registered is 81. 

Besides this, Dhubri has the third highest number of arrested persons which stands at 127 and 374 cases have been registered against child marriage in the district. 

It is to be noted that the arrests have been made from the districts which have the highest number of the minority population.

Interestingly, arrests have also been made in the Majuli district which has around 592 Muslim population. A total of 43 cases of child marriage have been registered in the district and 24 arrests have been made so far.

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