Police arrests 916 people in crackdown on child marriage | Guwahati City News

Guwahati: The Assam Police while carrying out a special drive against child marriage since the wee hours of Tuesday arrested as many as 916 accused from across the state, besides registering a total of 706 cases so far.

Of the 916 accused, 192 were arrested from the state’s Dhubri district, 142 from Barpeta, Bajali (18), Baksa (33), Biswanath (9), Bongaigaon (40), Cachar (34), Charaideo (5), Chirang and Nalbari 10 each.

In Darrang and Dhemaji nine each were arrested, Dibrugarh (3), Dima Hasao (1), Goalpara (28), Golaghat (11), Hailakandi (59), Hojai (31), Sivasagar, Jorhat and Kamrup Metropolitan four each, Kamrup (50), Karimganj (47), Kokrajhar (24), Lakhimpur (10), Morigaon (35), Nagaon (30), Sonitpur (6), South Salmara (39), Tinsukia and Tamulpur seven each and Udalguri (5).  

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Reacting to the massive crackdown on child marriage by the BJP-led Assam government, the opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) criticised the way the arrests were made in the state.

AIUDF MLA from Jania constituency Rafiqul Islam said, “Even I am against child marriage but the way people were arrested at night is not right. It’s not only Muslims who are involved in child marriage, there are other communities too.”

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He added, “The problem is prevalent where people are uneducated. If someone was married 10 years ago, why are they being arrested now? What will happen to their families and who will take care of their children if they are put into jail?”

The AIUDF MLA further said that there is a need to stop child marriage but proper awareness should be spread for that.

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