GUWAHATI: Assam police registered 345 cases of child marriage and arrested 431 individuals in the State’s third drive against child marriage. This initiative was conducted on Saturday, December 21.
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"The gradual decrease in number of arrests shows that the situation has improved a lot and we are moving towards a day when child marriage will be completely eradicated from Assam,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters at an event on Sunday.
The arrests included the accused husbands, family members, and Kazis involved in conducting the unlawful marriages. The third drive follows two earlier operations conducted in February and October of 2023, which together saw 5,069 arrests from 5,069 cases registered.
In February 2023, 4,387 cases were recorded, with 3,425 arrests made. The October 2023 drive registered 682 cases, resulting in 913 arrests. The police also noted that 95.2% of these cases have already been charge-sheeted.
Authorities stated that these actions have contributed to consistent decline in both maternal and child mortality rates over recent years. Maternal deaths have reduced from 984 in FY 2020-21 to 372 in FY 2023-24. Similarly, child deaths have dropped from 9,472 in FY 2020-21 to 4,790 in FY 2023-24.
The initiative aims to eliminate the social evil of child marriage from the state by 2025.