Assam: 915 Arrested, 710 Cases Registered In Fresh Crackdown On Child Marriage

Police said the number of child marriage cases in Assam have dropped ever since the first drive was launched in February this year.

New Delhi: Assam Police arrested as many as 915 people as part of its fresh crackdown on child marriage, Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh said on Wednesday. Assam Police launched a special drive on Tuesday and 710 cases have been registered across the state so far.

Of the 915 arrested, 192 were from Dhubri district, 143 from Barpeta, Bajali (18), Baksa (38), Biswanath, Chirang, Lakhimpur and Nalbari 10 each, Bongaigaon (45), Cachar (34), Charaideo (5), Darrang (16), Dhemaji (9), Dibrugarh (3), Dima Hasao (1), Goalpara (28), Golaghat (11), Hailakandi (40), Hojai (31), Jorhat, Kamrup Metropolitan and Sivasagar four each, Kamrup (50), Karimganj (47), Kokrajhar (23), Morigaon (35), Nagaon (30), Sonitpur (6), South Salmara (39), Tinsukia and Tamulpur seven each and Udalguri (5).

Taking to X, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote 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."

Addressing the media persons at the Assam Police Headquarters in Guwahati, DGP Singh said that in the first drive against child marriage, which was carried out in February this year, as many as 3,483 people were arrested and 4,515 cases were registered. Of the 4,515, 95.5 per cent have already been chargesheeted.

READ | J&K: 2 Hizbul Mujahideen Terrorists Killed In Kulgam Encounter, Search On For More Terror Operatives

The top cop further said that child marriage numbers have come down by a great extent ever since the first drive was launched.

“In the second phase, the field study and data on the last three months of the drive shows that the cases of child marriage have dropped in comparison to the period prior to the launching of the drive in the first phase,” DGP Singh said.

The Assam police chief reiterated that they will carry out more such drives till child marriage is eradicated. He also added that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had instructed the state police to carry out such drives and take stringent action against the accused.