New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Assam government over its recent crackdown on child marriage and said schools should be opened for the girls who were married.
“What'll happen to girls who were married, who'll take care of them? Assam govt booked 4000 cases, why aren't they opening new schools? BJP's govt in Assam is biased against Muslims. They gave land to landless people in Upper Assam but didn't do same in Lower Assam,” news agency ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.
The AIMIM chief’s remark in the wake of Assam government’s crackdown on child marriage wherein 8,134 people have been identified as accused in 4,047 cases and 2,211 persons have been arrested so far.
"We will have to arrest around 3,500 people," chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Earlier in the day, Assam police said that it arrested a total of 2,170 persons involved in cases related to child marriage. According to ANI, Assam police spokesperson Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan confirmed the details and said, "Assam police have so far arrested 2,170 persons involved in cases related to child marriage till today morning. The number of arrested persons will increase."
In the Biswanath district, the police arrested 139 persons in 97 registered cases. Biswanath SP Navin Singh said, "We had registered 97 cases related to child marriage in Biswanath district & have so far arrested 139 persons."
Meanwhile, in Assam's Karimganj, police arrested 79 persons in cases related to child marriage. "So far, Police have arrested 79 people related to child marriage in the district," Karimganj SP Padmanabh Baruah said.
"About 2 months ago, CM HB Sarma had told police that he had got inputs that child marriage was rampant in the sta&directed Police to carry out a probe. During the last 2 days, 4,074 cases across different districts of the State. Till 3 pm today, 2044 people arrested till now," Assam DGP Singh was quoted by ANI on its official Twitter handle.