Guwahati, Sept 3: Resuming the second major crackdown on child marriages in the state this year, Assam Police conducted raids across multiple locations and arrested over 1000 accused persons in a single day, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed on Tuesday.
“In a massive crackdown against child marriage, Assam Police has arrested over 800 accused persons in a special operation which began in the early hours of dawn. The number of arrests is likely to rise,” the chief minister had posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Tuesday morning.
By early afternoon, Sarma informed that the number of arrested accused had gone up to 1039.
The state police force has reportedly conducted raids across multiple locations in lower and western Assam before making the arrests.
The chief minister had earlier stated that the second round of arrests would be specifically targeted at those who have participated in child marriage in the period after the initial crackdown earlier this year.
During the first crackdown against the menace in February, over 3000 persons had been arrested within a span of a month, which included persons who had married underage girls as well as priests and sermonisers engaged in the ‘social menace’ from different districts.
Last month, the chief minister had informed the Assam Assembly that 3,907 persons were arrested in cases related to child marriages during the past five years, of whom 3,319 were facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).
Notably, the initial crackdown on child marriages in the state had begun earlier this year after inputs were received late last year about rampant child marriages in various districts of Assam.
Besides, there were reports of maternal mortality and deaths of infants and mothers owing to child marriages prompting the state Cabinet to decide that such cases would be registered under POCSO Act against persons (adult) marrying girls under 14 years of age.
