Assam: Over 4000 child marriages reported in two years, state government informs Assembly

A total of 4,670 incidents of child marriages were reported in Assam between April 2021 and February this year and around 3,483 persons have been apprehended so far under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, the state government informed the Assembly on March 14.

The data shared by the state home department while replying to a question by Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi also added that a total of 1,182 nabbed persons are still in judicial custody while around 2, 253 others have been released on bail.

On January 23 this year, the Assam government launched a drive against child marriage across the state, and due to this, several lost their lives fearing arrest in the case.

As per the details shared by the state home department, Dhubri district topped the list of child marriage cases followed by Kokrajhar, South Salmara, Udalguri, Bongaigaon, Hojai, Cachar, Karimganj, and Morigaon districts.

However, the drive NGOs and child rights activists believe that lack of schools and poor awareness were the main reasons which resulted in child marriages, particularly in the char or riverine areas, mostly inhabited by the Muslims.

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