GUWAHATI: In a massive crackdown against child marriage, Assam Police arrested over 916 accused persons from different parts of the state on Tuesday.
However, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswaa Sarma, the figure goes up to 1039.
“The number now stands at 1,039. In a massive crackdown against child marriage, Assam Police has arrested over 800 accused persons in a special operation which began in the early hours of dawn,” Sarma wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
According to the information provided by the Assam Police, a total of 706 cases have been registered against 1,041 accused persons of whom 916 people have been arrested till Tuesday evening.
“The operation is continuing and the figure might go up,” said a senior police official.
Of 916 arrested persons, 551 are husbands, 351 are their relatives and 14 are solemnis (including kazis).
The highest number of arrests have been made in Dhubri district with 192 accused, followed by Barpeta 142 and Hailakandi with 59 arrested persons.
On September 11, Sarma told the Assam Assembly that a total of 3,907 people were arrested in cases related to child marriages in the last five years, of whom 3,319 are facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).
The first phase of the mass arrests started in the first week of February. Husbands and family members of those married off before turning 18 were arrested.
