Guwahati, Sep 11: In a new development, the Assam government is all set to re-launch it’s campaign against child marriages in the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday. He said that state police will arrest around 3,000 men in the coming days.
Himanata Biswa Sarma while speaking at the concluding session of the national executive meeting of BJP’s women’s wing said, “Last time, I arrested 5,000 people in our drive against child marriage in the state. We will relaunch the drive against the abuse in the next 10 days. I will arrest 2,000-3,000 people for child marriage in the coming days, we have to eradicate this menace”.
He said that the drive was on hold as he was waiting for the G20 Summit to end, and since the G20 successfully came to an end on Sunday, the campaign will be relaunched to eradicate the menace of child marriage in the state.
“They will keep getting exploited unless we end this practice once and for all. The law strictly says child marriages are illegal, yet they keep happening, this should end,” he said.
. “I believe that by ending (triple) talaq, child marriage, and polygamy, the amount of work that we are doing for the Muslims, no Congress government has done before,” Sarma said.
In February this year, over 2,600 people were arrested by the state police during their crackdown against child marriages in the state.
Meanwhile, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, prohibits child marriage in India and also protects and provides assistance to the victims of child marriages.