The Assam government has toughened its stance against child marriage cases in the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reiterated on Thursday.
Addressing reporters on the matter, the CM said that statewide arrests will be made in cases pertaining to child marriage beginning Friday (February 3).
CM Sarma said, “Arrests will go on as long as the menace that this child marriage continues to persist in Assam. Anyone indulging in child marriage will be straightaway jailed.”
The CM further opined that marriage registers maintained by Maulanas and Qazis will discussed in the coming times.
He said, “We will work towards ridding Assam of child marriages by 2026. In the last nine days, over five thousand cases of child marriages have come to the fore.”
In a relief to the minor wives of arrested husbands in connection with child marriages, the Assam CM announced that they will receive free ration the moment their husbands are arrested.
CM Sarma said, “The wives of arrested husbands will get free rice immediately. They will also be enrolled under the Orunodoi scheme.”
Moreover, CM Sarma said, “Every year around 30-40 thousand child marriages take place in Assam every year. Of this, around 40 per cent marriages take place in lower Assam regions.”
“Young mothers are not taken to hospitals for delivery. They are forced to deliver babies at home, increasing the risks involved,” revealed CM Sarma.
He added that these are not facts that he has made up but have been documented by NSS.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister urged the people to cooperate in the initiative and said that the action on the 4,004 registered cases would begin tomorrow.
"Assam Govt is firm in its resolve to end the menace of child marriage in the state. So far @assampolice has registered 4,004 cases across the state and more police action is likely in days ahead. Action on the cases will begin starting February 3. I request all to cooperate,” CM Sarma said on Twitter.
According to the data shared by the CM, most child marriage cases were registered in Dhubri district (370) and the least in Hailakandi (1).
A total of 123 cases were registered in Bongaigaon, 35 in Cachar, 125 in Darang, 75 in Dibrugarh, 157 in Goalpara, 255 in Hojai, 80 in Kamrup, 204 in Kokrajhar, 113 in Nagaon, 224 in Morigaon, and 110 in Tamilpur amongst others.
Earlier last month, CM Sarma had announced that the state government would launch a massive crackdown across the state to stop cases of child marriage.
He said that cases will be registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, if the bride is between 14 to 18 years old.
