Assam: Over 1,000 of men accused in child marriage to be arrested, 4004 cases registered across state

The Assam government has started its drive to nab the accused men and associates involved in child marriages across the state.

Taking the help of the law, the Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed the state police to initiate a drive to identify the Imams or Pujaris along with the men committing the heinous crime.

Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "From tomorrow onwards in Assam, thousands of people who are associated with child marriages shall be arrested."

Further, the CM asserted that from February 3 till the next 7 days thousands of youths or people will be arrested who have committed the crime of child marriage.

People who have committed the crime earlier also will not be spared, said CM Sarma.

Also Read: Assam: 4004 cases registered across state against child marriage, action on cases to begin from Feb 3

On the other hand, the youths or people who have done the heinous crime of marrying a child below 14 years of age and also giving birth to a child will be arrested under the POSCO Act.

In a tweet, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday informed that 4004 cases of child marriage have been registered in the state and posted a list where it has been enlisted that out of the 36 districts of the state, with 370 cases in Dhubri district has the highest numbers of cases.

Speaking on this Dhubri SP Aparna Natarajan said that the cases have been registered at various police stations of the district and once the registration process is completed legal actions will be taken. 

"We also request the people to co-operate in this drive and if anybody has any information regarding child marriage, they are requested to inform the same to the nearest police station", said the Superintendent of Police.

Meanwhile, most of the people in the district welcomed the step. Manzur Rahman, an Advocate in Dhubri said, "This is a remarkable step by the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The root cause of all the evils in society, especially in the Dhubri district is Child Marriage. Be it illiteracy or malnutrition or high infant mortality rate, child marriage is the root cause".

He further added that the practice of child marriage is prevalent not only amongst poor or uneducated families but also amongst financially stable and educated families, "Child Marriage is deeply rooted in the society, which is needed to uprooted immediately only then the society could prosper in true sense".

It has also been informed that the practice is mainly prevalent in the Char areas of the district.