Assam: Temporary Jails Set Up To Accommodate Arrestees in Child Marriage Crackdown

The Matia transit camp in Assam's Goalpara and a stadium in Silchar has been converted into temporary jails to accommodate the arrestees on charges of either marrying underage girls or solemnising and encouraging such marriages which crossed over 2400.

A total of 2441 arrests have been made till Monday.

Assam Police IG (law & order) Prashanta Kumar Bhuyan, who is also the official spokesperson, said: "Jails in a few districts have become overcrowded for which the Assam government has converted the Matia transit camp and a stadium in Silchar into temporary jails. The transit camp has a capacity of 3,000 inmates."

Four persons, who have married underage girls, have been booked under Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which deals with punishment of male adult who contracts child marriage. Similarly, persons who have solemnised child marriages have been booked under Section 10 of the Act and persons who have promoted or permitted solemnising child marriages have been booked under Section 11 of the Act. As of Monday, the police have arrested 2,441 men, including those who married underage girls, their family members, priests and kazis.

A lawyer on condition of anonymity said according to the Act, an offence punishable under the said Act is cognizable and non-bailable, a TOI report stated.

Meanwhile, wives of those arrested on charges of marrying underage girls continued to demand their husbands' release. A woman, who was crying outside the Biswanath police station, said, "Who will take care of my family if they (police) keep my husband in jail? I have a one-year-old child."

Also Read: Assam Child Marriage Crackdown: Muslim Personal Law Board to Approach SC