'51% Drop In Crimes Against Women': Assam CM Says Another Op Against Child Marriage To Begin In Sept

Assam government will launch another operation to combat child marriage in September, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said highlighting that the cases of crimes against women in the state have reduced.

File Photo of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

Source : PTI

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the state has witnessed a 51 per cent decline in crimes against women. He highlighted that special cells for women, tech-based investigation, faster prosecution, and multi-stakeholder involvement are making policing effective in the state. At an event in Bongaigaon, CM Himanta Sarma announced that his government will launch a massive operation to battle child marriage in the state in the month of September.

As per the Assam Police, the cases of crimes against women in 2022 were 14,030 down from 29,046 the previous year.

Sharing the tweet, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote: "A 51% drop in crimes against women in Assam. Special cells for women, tech-based investigation, faster prosecution and multi-stakeholder involvement make policing effective."

A 51% drop in crimes against women in Assam. Special cells for women, tech-based investigation, faster prosecution and multi-stakeholder involvement make policing effective. https://t.co/L70Sien1b7

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 28, 2023

Addressing the 2-day Superintendent of Police (SP) conference held in Bongaigaon that began on Friday, CM Himanta Sarma directed all Superintendents of Police (SPs) to be ready to undertake effective measures against child marriage.

“There are some vintage Acts which have come to our notice and we are repealing those Acts soon. We will soon bring an Act where multiple marriages will be stopped in all communities, marriage age will be legally fixed for all the communities, more legislative steps will be taken,” CM Sarma said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

He further mentioned that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) doesn’t deal only with child marriage.

“POCSO applies equally to every people, every citizen belonging to any religion. So, whenever child marriage comes to our notice, we have to launch prosecution under POCSO, we have to go under the POCSO Act because it is a secular Act that doesn’t deal with any religion,” Sarma added.

He said that legislative support is to be given to ensure the prosecution of the accused held for polygamy and child marriages.

Another operation to combat child marriages is to begin in September, police personnel must communicate in civil and polite language to members of the public and complainants, the Chief Minister informed. 

He highlighted that crime against women has drastically come down to 14,030 cases in 2022, much below the annual average of 27,240 cases between 2017-2021.

"Crimes against children have come down to 4084 as against 5282 in the previous year. High-profile cases must be tried in Special Courts, Special Public Prosecutors must be deployed and charge sheets must be filed in the stipulated period in order to serve as a deterrent for future crimes,” CM Sarma added, as per ANI.

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