A total of 126 people arrested in connection with child marriage cases in Assam’s Golakganj were on Sunday presented before a court of which 111 were sentenced to jail.
This comes amid a major crackdown by Assam Police on child marriages across the state under strict instructions of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Several reports have claimed that so far that as many as 2,258 arrests have been made by the police across Assam in connection with child marriage cases.
According to initial reports, among the 126 culprits who were produced before the court by the police, 15 were remanded to police custody for two days.
Meanwhile, the remaining 111 culprits apprehended on charges of being involved in child marriages in Golakganj in the Dhubri district of Assam, were sentenced to serve time in prison.
It may be noted that Assam Police till February 4, arrested a total of 2,258 people in connection to child marriage-related cases across the state.
The highest number of arrests was made from Biswanath district with 139 arrests. On the other hand, the lowest number of arrests has been made from Dibrugarh district with six arrests.
Police outposts of each district have clarified the data on the number of arrests.
The manhunt was launched since February 3 after directives by the state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to bring an end to child marriage and nab accused.
Meanwhile, Himanta Biswa Sarma has stated that the crackdown on child marriage will continue till state assembly elections 2026.
Earlier on Saturday, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi took a swipe at the Assam government over its crackdown against child marriages.
Calling it a "farce", Gogoi said, "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 further said that the people of the state have "completely rejected" the initiative. Gogoi also called the crackdown by the Assam government a PR exercise.
"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 wrote in his tweets.
