Assam crackdown over child marriage: Over 2200 arrested amid Opposition's publicity stunt charge
Opposition leaders have doubted the intentions of Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma, who asserted that the drive to end the social menace would go on till the next assembly elections.
FollowThe Assam Police have arrested over 2200 persons in three days as part of the controversial crackdown on child marriage in the state.
According to the police, 4074 police complaints had been lodged -- 374 from Dhubri alone -- based on which the arrests were carried out. Of these, 139 arrests were made in Biswanath while 130 were picked up from Barpeta, 126 in Dhubri, 123 in Baksa and 117 each in Bongaigaon and Hojai, it said.
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The Opposition, however, has termed the government crackdown a hurriedly carried out 'publicity stunt'. Opposition leaders have doubted the intentions of Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma, who asserted that the drive to end the social menace would continue until the next assembly polls.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that if the Assam government was actually seized of the problem of child marriage, it should have concentrated on increasing literacy levels.
"Experts say that you have to open a lot of schools if you want to stop child marriages, but you have not done that. You have closed down the madrassas too, which were imparting some form of education," Owaisi claimed.
The AIMIM chief further sought to know what would happen to the women left in the lurch after the arrest of the men of the house.
State Congress president Bhupen Bora sought a more humane approach in dealing with the issue.
"We are opposed to child marriage. But what will be the benefit of disrupting settled families with grown-up children? It is nothing but a publicity stunt," he said.
Assam Jatiya Parishad chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi alleged that the government executed the crackdown without assessing its impact on the people.
"The government should have thought of the situation the wives; families will face when the arrests happen. It was a haphazardly executed step," he maintained.
The state cabinet had recently approved a proposal to book men who have married girls below 14 years of age under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the cabinet decision, those who have married girls in the 14 to 18-year age group will face cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006. The offenders will be arrested, and the marriages will be declared illegal. If the groom is below 14 years of age, he will be sent to a reform house.
According to reports by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Assam has a high rate of infant and maternal mortality, with child marriage being the primary cause. An average of 31 per cent of marriages registered in the state are in the prohibited age group, the NFHS noted.
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