The Assam Cabinet ordered a crackdown on child marriage on January 23, after the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) conducted between...
Digital Desk: The Assam government began its crackdown on child marriages on Friday, with chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claiming that police have already arrested over 1800 people for breaking the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
"State-wide arrests are presently underway against those violating provisions of Prohibhiton of Child Marriage Act. 1800 + have been arrested so far. I have asked @assampolice to act with a spirit of zero tolerance against the unpardonable and heinous crime on women," Sarma tweeted.
Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan, Inspector General of Police (IGP) (L&O) and Assam police spokesperson, previously told news agency ANI, "Out of these, 131 persons have been arrested in Biswanath. The arrested persons' figure might be increased. Operations are still on."
Following CM Sarma's orders, the state-wide crackdown on child marriage began on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, Sarma presided over a video conference with senior police officials, including Superintendents of Police from all districts, to discuss the state-wide police activities that would begin today onwards against the practice of child marriage in the state.
CM Sarma urged the people to support the government's efforts to end the horrible practice of child marriage in the state.
He further stated that over 4,000 complaints have been registered as part of the Assam campaign against child marriages.
In a tweet, Sarma reiterated his commitment to end child marriage and underlined that 4004 cases had been reported, with more cases sure to follow.
The Assam Cabinet ordered a crackdown on child marriage on January 23, after the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) conducted between 2019 and 2020 showed that the percentage of women aged 20 to 24 married before the legal age of 18 in the state was 31.8 percent, compared to the national figure of 23.3 percent.
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