Police in Assam arrested 2,044 persons in 36 hours since Thursday on charges of child marriage as part of the BJP-led government’s “massive crackdown” on the problem.
Director general of police, GP Singh said of these, 51 were priests, kazis and other sermonizers, who had performed the rituals of the marriage, in violation of the provisions of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. In addition, members of families that married off their underage children have been arrested.
In a surprising twist, while the police have stated they have a list of 8,000 accused and the drive will continue, it is women who protested against the move in various districts, saying they will face problems without livelihoods. “Why take only the men? How will we and or our children survive? We have no means of income,” said 55-year-old Niroda Doley of Majuli district.
The police had registered 4,004 cases of child marriage in less than a fortnight since the state cabinet decided on January 23 to arrest offenders, besides launching an extensive awareness campaign against the menace.
“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 over the next three to four days and after we get all the data, a proper district-wise analysis can be done,” Director General of Police G P Singh said.
“We will act according to the law, conduct proper investigations and submit charge sheets,” Singh said.
The state cabinet recently decided that those having married girls below 14 years of age will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and 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.
They will be arrested and the marriages will be declared illegal. If the groom is also below 14 years of age, he will be sent to a reform house. How many of the arrested people were minors is not yet known till the publication of the report.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he has directed the police to act with a ”spirit of zero tolerance against the unpardonable and heinous crime on women”.
“Child marriage is the primary reason behind child pregnancy, which in turn is responsible for high maternal and infant mortality rates,” he said.
Marriage under 18 is illegal in India, but the law is openly flouted. The United Nations estimates that the country is home to the largest number of child brides in the world at around 223 million. Nearly 1.5 million underage girls get married there every year, U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said in a 2020 report.
“From Muslims to Hindus, Christians, tribal people to those belonging to the tea garden communities, there are men from all faiths and communities who got arrested for this heinous social crime,” Sarma said.
