Over 5,300 arrests in Assam puts the spotlight back on rampant child marriages in Muslim-majority districts

Encouraged by a drive by the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka, the BJP-led government in Assam launched a crackdown on child marriage in February 2023 and have arrested 5,348 persons so far.

Guwahati: The "rampant" problem of child marriage among Muslims in Assam have come to the spotlight as more than 60 per cent of the cases registered during the state government's drive against child marriage since February 2023 have been found to be from the Mulsim-majority areas.  

Sources within the state police told DH that although child marriage was a state-wide problem, most of the cases and persons arrested so far were from Dhubri, Barpeta, South Salmara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Karimganj (now renamed Sribhumi), Cachar and Hailakandi districts, where the Muslims are either in majority or has sizeable in numbers.

Encouraged by a drive by the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka, the BJP-led government in Assam launched a crackdown on child marriage in February 2023 and have arrested 5,348 persons and registered 5,842 cases so far.

In three special drives, police arrested husbands, relatives and Kazis (who perform the rituals) for child marriages so far.

The state DGP, GP Singh on Sunday said chargesheets have been filed in 95 per cent of the cases registered till the third phase launched on Saturday night (December 21).

A total 431 persons were arrested in connection with 345 cases on Saturday night. Singh said maternal mortality and infant mortality in Assam have reduced since the drive was launched. 

Police and the state health department said the drive was resumed on Saturday as the state government set a target to end child marriage by 2026, when Assam will go for the next Assembly elections. 

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said most of the arrests were from Muslim-dominated areas as the problem was rampant and this resulted in a high rate of maternal and infant mortality.

"We can no longer allow marriage of a girl of 13 or 14, become a mother and die during delivery or thereafter. During our drive, we have come across several such cases," Sarma had said recently.

The BJP-led government stated that the drive had no communal agenda as arrests were made in other districts too. But activists and Opposition parties claim that Muslims have been targeted more in order to suit the saffron party's communal agenda.

"Child marriage is definitely a serious problem, irrespective of caste, religion and community. It is good that the state government has adopted some tough action to end the menace. But it has been observed that most of the arrests have been made in Muslim majority areas.

"No community should be specifically targeted. We can not end this social evil by just arresting the sole bread earner of the family and putting him behind the bars. We must devise a proper plan to increase the level of education, economic condition and sustained awareness in order to make an impact in the real sense," said Hasina Ahmed, a lawyer and now the president of the women's front of the Badruddin Ajmal-led party, All India United Democratic Front.

Ahmed, also a lawyer now, had prevented several child marriages as a leader of All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) much before the government's crackdown was launched. 
Rafikul Islam, an anti-child marriage activist in Barpeta said poor economic condition and low literacy were the main push factors of child marriage among the Muslims, mainly those living in the riverine areas. 

Cases registered since February 2023: 5,842

Arrests: 5,348 

Dhubri: 321

Barpeta: 207

South Salmara: 128

Karimganj: 112

Maternal deaths: 

2021-22: 766

2023-24: 372

Infant deaths:

2021-22: 7,908

2023-24: 4,790