The state government of Assam, over 1,800 offenders have been arrested over child marriages.
Police have registered 4,004 cases of child marriage in less than a fortnight. In this regard, Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter and shared several men arrested in Assam for child marriages and called for ‘zero tolerance’ against child marriages in the state.
He wrote, “State wide arrests are presently underway against those violating provisions of Prohibhiton of Child Marriage Act.” Mr Sarma blamed child marriages for Assam’s health stats. “The main reason for the high infant mortality rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is child marriage. The state has an average of 31 percent of marriages in the prohibited age,” he said.
State wide arrests are presently underway against those violating provisions of Prohibhiton of Child Marriage Act .
1800 + have been arrested so far.
I have asked @assampolice to act with a spirit of zero tolerance against the unpardonable and heinous crime on women
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 3, 2023
According to the law, those who have married girls below 14 years of age will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 will be registered against those who have married girls in the 14-18 years age group.
As per an Indian news outlet, their marriages will be declared “illegal” and if the boy is also below 14 years of age, he will be sent to a reform house as minors cannot be tried in court.
Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, with child marriage being the primary cause as an average of 31 percent of marriages registered in the state are in the prohibited age, according to reports of the National Family Health Survey.
