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Eight held for conducting child marriage in Assam’s Karimganj: Police
Police said they checked the birth certificate of the minor girl, a student of Class nine, according to which she is 17 years old but seemed much younger
Silchar: The Assam police on Wednesday arrested a Kazi (marriage registrar) and seven others for allegedly officiating a child marriage in Karimganj.
Police said they received information about a marriage function being held at the Kabariband village under Patharkandi police station in Karimganj on Monday evening, following which an operation was launched to arrest the people involved.
Patharkandi police station officer in charge Dipak Das said that the marriage had been officiated by the time police reached the spot. “…We arrested them and rescued the girl,” Das said.
Speaking to HT on Wednesday, Das said that the groom, aged around 18, claimed he was in a relationship with the minor girl for a long time, and they were getting married with the blessings of both families.
Das said that they checked the birth certificate of the minor girl, a student of Class nine, according to which she is 17 years old but seemed much younger.
He said they arrested the groom identified as Bilal Uddin, his father Zahraul Islam, the father of the girl, Shabbir Uddin, the Kazi and some other family members.
A case under different sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage (PCMA) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act has been registered at Patharkandi police station against all eight persons and they have been sent to judicial custody, police said.
“All of them were produced before the court on Tuesday and have been sent to judicial custody by the judges. The minor girl has been sent to a shelter home where her statement will be recorded”, Das said.
In a bid to curb child marriage, the Assam government launched a two-phase drive against child marriage last year, resulting in numerous arrests and case registrations.
In the first phase in February last year, 3,483 people were arrested and 4,515 cases were registered, followed by 915 arrests and 710 cases in the second phase in October.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that they are aiming to irradiate child marriage from Assam completely by 2026, and the crackdown will continue till they achieve the goal.
