The Assam police on Friday (January 27) arrested four people for conducting child marriage in the Kurbaha area in the Barpeta district of Assam. The arrested accused included the Qazi (Imam) Sanidul Ali, the groom Sanuar Hussain, and two of his family members identified as Soib Ali and Nur Islam. The four have been booked under the charges of the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
The area where the purported incident took place falls under the limits of Sorbhog Police station.
Assam Police have arrested four people including a 29-year-old groom for allegedly conducting child marriage in the Kurbaha area in Assam’s Barpeta district, officials said on Friday.
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The arrest came barely four days after the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government announced that strict measures will be implemented across the state to keep a check on the spike in child marriages in the state.
The Sorbhog police revealed that the 29-year-old youth Sonuar Hussain, of the Gubardhana district near Barpeta, had planned to marry a 16-year-old minor girl. The arrest was made based on a tip-off the police received from a source.
“The groom along with Qazi and other persons reached Kurbaha village to marry the minor girl on Thursday,” an official privy to the case was quoted as saying.
Sorbhog officer-in-charge Amar Ghosh said, “We had information that a child marriage is going to take place at Kurubaha on Thursday,” he said. After receiving the information, our team reached the spot and apprehended the four people, including the groom, his father and Qazi for arranging the child marriage. The minor girl was rescued and later handed over to Sakhi-One Stop Centre, a component of the umbrella scheme for the National Mission for Empowerment of Women. The arrested were sent to judicial custody on Friday by a local court.
Assam Govt to initiate stringent action under POCSO Act against child marriage across the state
Notably, on Monday, January 23, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam Government announced that strict measures will be implemented across the state to keep a check on the spike in child marriages in the state. The Assam government said that legal action against men who marry girls below 14 years of age would be initiated under the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
“We have directed the police to launch within 15 days a massive crackdown against those marrying underage girls. It will be a priority in our governance, to take sustained steps against child marriage so that our state can become free from child marriage within five years,” the chief minister said.
Under the actions that the Assam government has planned, it said, “FIR would be lodged under POCSO Act in situations where the girl’s age is under 14 years and under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 in cases where the girl’s age is between 14 years and 18 years.”
