Assam Govt Campaign Against Child Marriage: Large scale action was taken on child marriage in Assam. Police on Friday (February 3) arrested 2,044 people, including Hindu and Muslim priests, for conducting such marriages, which were declared illegal. According to the Assam Police, they have a list of 8,000 accused in this case. This campaign will continue in the state as well. According to the news agency PTI, this move of the government is being strongly opposed by women in various districts there.
Assam cabinet took the decision
The Assam cabinet has recently decided that those marrying girls below the age of 14 will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. . Those marrying girls in the age group of 14-18 years will be booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
They will be arrested and the marriage will be declared illegal. If the groom is also below 14 years of age, he will be sent to a reform home. According to PTI, how many of those arrested so far were minors. Till the time of writing the news, information about this could not be known.
Police had registered 4,004 cases of child marriage in less than a fortnight after the state cabinet on January 23 decided to arrest the perpetrators, besides launching a massive awareness campaign against the menace. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he has directed the police to act with a ‘zero tolerance spirit against the unforgivable and heinous crime against women’.
In fact, according to the report of the National Family Health Survey, Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, child marriage is counted as one of the most important reasons because on an average 31 percent of the registered marriages in the state are registered in the restricted age for marriage.
The campaign will run for the next 3 to 4 days
Director General of Police GP Singh said, “We have a list of 8,000 named accused and so far we have arrested only 2,044 people. The drive against child marriage will continue for the next 3 to 4 days and proper district-wise analysis can be done after getting all the data.” As of Friday evening, the maximum number of arrests have been made in Biswanath district at 137, followed by Dhubri at 126, There have been 120 arrests in Baksa, 114 in Barpeta and 96 in Kokrajhar.
The DGP said that apart from members of families who married off their underage children, the police arrested 51 ‘Purohits’ and ‘Qazis’ who performed such marriage rituals in religious institutions. He said the arrests were made after verification of information received from family members, child welfare committee, local people and police personnel. “We will act as per the law, conduct proper investigation and file a charge sheet,” Singh said.
women are against
Meanwhile, women in the state came out in large numbers to protest against the arrest of their husbands and sons. According to PTI, 55-year-old Niroda Dole from Majuli district said, “Why take only men? How will we and our children survive? We don’t have any source of income.”
In fact, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on January 28, “Thousands of husbands will be arrested in the next 5-6 months because it is a crime to have sex with a girl under 14, even if she is a legally wedded husband.” Why not to be. Many (men who marry girls) can be jailed for life.”
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