3,015 arrested in 10 days during crackdown on child marriages in Assam

The crackdown was undertaken after the state cabinet approved a proposal to book men who have married girls below the age of 14 under POSCO.

New Delhi, Feb 13: Continuing the crackdown on child marriages, Assam Police have arrested a total of 3,015 people so far, announced Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, Sarma posted "Our crackdown against child marriage has entered its second week with 3,015 arrests made so far. The drive against this social evil will continue. The positive side is that now people are coming out and surrendering before police."

The Assam Police had launched the crackdown on child marriage on February 3, with over 2,000 people, including Hindu and Muslim priests who officiated these weddings, arrested within the first two days.

Opposition parties have criticised the manner in which it is being carried out, terming the arrests of teenage husbands and family members as "abuse of law" for political gain, and equating the police action with "terrorising people".

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Ripun Bora said that the law was being abused by the chief minister on the pretext of the crackdown. He also sought the intervention of the Gauhati High Court, while claiming that the police was acting as a puppet of the Chief Minister.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi of the Assam Jatiya Parishad said that the government went ahead with the crackdown without even asserting its impact on the people.

The Congress on the other hand said that government is targeting one community with this drive.

He had earlier this week justified the measures and said nearly 17 per cent of over 6.2 lakh pregnant women in Assam last year were teenagers, according to the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called the action as biased against Muslims.

Sarma however revealed on Monday that around 42 per cent of the arrested were Hindus while 58 per cent are Muslims.

According to the report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality and child marriage is the primary cause for this.

The crackdown was undertaken after the state cabinet approved a proposal to book men who have married girls below the age of 14 under POSCO.