Justifying the crackdown on child marriages in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said not a single such incident has taken place in the state in the last one month.
The Assam government on February 3 started an intense drive against child marriages across the state, registering over 4,000 cases. Till Tuesday, 3,145 people have been apprehended.
“In the last one month, not a single child marriage has taken place in Assam. This is a big achievement. Everyone has welcomed our steps against this social menace,” Sarma said at a press conference in Guwahati. He said that of the total number of persons arrested, around 900 have received bail from the courts.
Also read: HC: Arrests related to child marriage in Assam are wreaking havoc on lives
“I thought that they would be released from the jails within seven-eight days. But most of them got bail after 14-15 days. The judiciary also appreciated our move,” Sarma claimed.
Observing that making a large number of arrests in the crackdown on child marriage created “havoc in the private lives of people”, the Gauhati High Court on February 14 said there was no need for custodial interrogation of the accused in such cases.
Justice Suman Shyam of the high court also came down heavily on the state government for imposing stringent laws, including those related to rape, on those arrested in child marriage cases.
(With Agency inputs)