51 cases of child marriage registered in Cachar while 72 people arrested for the same : Cachar SP

On January 23, Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the Assam Government has started a special drive against child marriage cases in the state. He told that people involved in child marriage in the last seven years would be prosecuted as per the law.

Since the announcement, the Assam Police has registered 4,074 cases of child marriage across the state and arrested 2044 people till Friday involved in the same. The Police force in entire state is arresting people involved in child marriage as per POCSO act for girls married below the age of 14 years and under the Child Marriage Act for girls married below the age of 18 years.

Alongwith the entire state, Cachar Police too is involved in the crackdown on child marriage cases in the district. 51 cases of child marriage have been registered in different police stations of Cachar district while 72 people have been arrested for the same including females.

Speaking to reporters, Cachar SP Numal Mahatta said, “Yesterday night we conducted a special operation in the district against child marriage on the call of Chief Minister and as per directions received from the Director General of Police (DGP). During the night long operation, we arrested 72 people involved in child marriage including females under POCSO Act as well as Section 9 and 10 of the Child Marriage Act. They will be forwarded to the court for legal proceedings. Currently we are analysing the child marriage cases and our officers are interrogating people involved in it. The operation is still in progress and will continue for the next two to three days till child marriage cases are completely eradicated. 51 cases of child marriage have been registered in different police stations of the district. We have a set target and we are acting as per it. Child marriage is a punishable offense under law and strict action will be taken against it.”

Speaking about the breakup of cases registered against child marriage and arrests made so far in Cachar, Mahatta added, “Of all the police stations in the district, 8 cases have been registered in Sonai Police Station and 18 have been arrested, 10 cases have been registered in Dholai Police Station and 16 have been arrested, 2 cases have been registered in Dwarbond Police station and 2 have been arrested, 3 cases have been registered in Katigorah Police station and 4 have been arrested, 4 cases have been registered in Joypur Police Station and 5 have been arrested, 3 cases have been registered in Kachudaram Police Station and 5 have been arrested, 5 cases have been registered in Kalain Police Station and 5 have been arrested, 1 case has been registered in Udharbond Police Station and 1 has been arrested, 10 cases have been registered in Silchar Police Station and 8 have been arrested, 2 cases have been registered in Lakhipur Police Station and 2 have been arrested, 3 cases have been registered in Borkhola Police Station and 6 have been arrested.”