Assam child marriage crackdown: 565 arrested, 481 cases filed

Assam Police have arrested 565 people and registered 481 cases in the state's latest drive against child marriage, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday, October 29.

Sarma shared the updated figures on social media and said the operation would not be wound down until the practice was wiped out in the state. Two days earlier, his update had put the count at 524 arrests and 441 cases, which means the numbers are still rising as police in several districts continue to act on complaints and records.

Which districts recorded the most arrests

Dhubri district in lower Assam has recorded the highest number of arrests so far, with 63 people detained across the jurisdictions of nine police stations, according to reports.

Nagaon is next. A senior police source told The Assam Tribune that 43 people had been arrested and 36 cases registered in the district. Of those held in Nagaon, 22 are men accused of marrying girls below the legal age, and 21 are accused of abetting the marriages, a group that includes relatives who allegedly arranged them. Dhing police station accounted for eight of the district's arrests and Nagaon police station for seven.

Laws being applied

Police sources said most cases have been filed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Where the facts support it, investigators have also added sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The girls involved are being counselled, and medical examinations are being carried out under standard procedure, the sources said. More arrests are expected as investigations progress.

Opposition backs the drive

The campaign has found support across party lines. Wazed Ali Choudhary, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, said on Wednesday that arresting people involved in child marriage was the correct response, and that NGOs in his community were also working to prevent such marriages.

A campaign that began in 2023

Assam's first large-scale crackdown started in February 2023, when 3,047 people were arrested within about two weeks. Since then, according to the chief minister, the state has registered more than 12,000 cases and made over 11,000 arrests. Sarma has also claimed an 81 per cent fall in child marriages across 20 districts, along with fewer teenage pregnancies and more young women enrolling in higher education.

Independent research has pointed in the same direction. A report by the advocacy network Just Rights for Children, released last year, estimated that child marriages in Assam had fallen by 84 per cent among girls and 91 per cent among boys over three years.

Sarma had earlier set a goal of making Assam free of child marriage by 2026. The government has announced a larger campaign for November, which the chief minister has linked to a new United Nations observance. In September, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution naming November 27 as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage. India was one of the co-sponsors.

What the law says

In India, the legal minimum age of marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men. Anyone with information about a planned child marriage can call the Childline number, 1098, or contact the local police station.