INDIA: Indian Police Arrest Over 2,000 Men For Illegal Child Marriages

GUWAHATI, India — Indian police have arrested over 2,000 men in a northeastern state as part of a crackdown on illegal child marriages involving girls under 18, officials said Saturday.

This week, state police chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh said that more than 50 Hindu priests and Muslim clerics were arrested in Assam for allegedly marrying girls who were too young.

“We have arrested 2,169 men so far based on 4,074 registered police cases involving approximately 8,000 men,” Singh said.

Assam, A State In India, Has Over 35 Million People

Many cases of child marriage go unreported in Assam, a state of 35 million people.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, only 155 cases of child marriages were registered in the state in 2021, up from 138 in 2020.

The legal marriageable age in India is 21 for men and 18 for women. Child marriages are widely blamed on poverty, a lack of education, and social norms and practices, particularly in rural areas.

On Friday, television images showed some young women with infants in their arms crying and protesting their husbands’ arrests.

“We were struggling and trying to make ends meet. But we were content together. “Who will take care of us now that my husband has been arrested?” enquired a young lady.

State Has a Hight Infant And Maternal Mortality Rate

Child marriages, according to Singh, are one of the causes of the state’s high infant and maternal mortality rates.

“I have asked the Assam police to act with zero tolerance against the unpardonable and heinous crime against women,” the state’s top elected official, Himanta Biswa Sarma, tweeted.

The Indian Parliament is considering legislation to raise the marriage age for women from 18 to 21, bringing it in line with men and promoting gender equality.

Smriti Irani, India’s Minister for Women and Child Development, told Parliament on Friday that the move would allow girls to finish their education, achieve economic independence, and reach physical and psychological maturity.

SOURCE – (AP)