Guwahati: As the drive against child marriage continues in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa said that more than 1800 persons were arrested till Friday.
In a tweet, Chief Minster said, “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.”
Most of these persons arrested were identified to be husbands accused of child marriages.
As many as 4004 cases have been filed in Assam in last one week against child marriage, officials said.
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“Assam government 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,” tweeted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Notably, Sarma had recently spoken about early marriage in some communities. He also affirmed the government’s strong resolve to end the menace of child marriage in the state.
The data shared by Sarma showed Dhubri district with the highest number of cases of child marriage with 370 cases, followed by Hojai with 255 cases and Udalguri with 235 cases. Dima Hasao has the lowest number of cases of child marriage.
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As per the 1929 Act, marriage of girls below the age of 14 years and boys below the age of 18 years was prohibited.
The Act was amended in 1978 to increase the minimum age to 18 years for females, and 21 years for men. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 replaced the 1929 Act, with the same minimum age limits.