Men who marry girls below 14 years in Assam will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared the information on Monday after a cabinet meeting.
“A big factor behind incidents of maternal and infant mortality rates in our state is child marriages. Hence, our cabinet decided that legal action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act will be taken against anyone who marries a girl under 14 years of age,” he added.
“Child marriages are illegal and even a husband can’t have sexual relations with a girl below 14 years of age. And for those who marry children between 14-18 years, action will be taken under provisions of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,” Sarma said.
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The decision was taken after the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) carried out in 2019-20 showed that percentage of women aged between 20-24 years married before the legal age of 18 years in the northeastern state was 31.8%, higher than the national figure of 23.3%.
“NFHS-5 showed that 11.7% of women aged between 15-19 years who were married were already mothers or pregnant during the period of survey (compared to the national figure of 6.8%). It shows that child marriages are happening at an alarming rate in Assam,” Sarma said.
The figure was the highest for Dhubri district, where 22.4% of married women aged between 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant, and lowest for Charaideo district, where it was 3.8%.
The NFHS-5 showed that 50.8% of all women in Dhubri district between 20-24 years got married before they turned 18 years of age. South Salmara at 44.7% recorded the second highest number of child marriages, while Dima Hasao with 16.5% had the lowest number of such marriages.
Instructions have been issued to state police to carry out a crackdown against those who have indulged in child marriages, arrest them and initiate legal action, the chief minister said. The crackdown will begin immediately and will be carried out within 15 days.
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The cabinet also decided to appoint the secretary of each village panchayat as child marriage prohibition officer under Section 16 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. If any child marriage takes place in the village, the officer will have to lodge a police complaint.
“The crackdown will take place across the state. I have already instructed district officers about this. Action will also be taken against parents who encourage child marriages and priests who conduct them. It will be neutral and secular action and not targeted against any community,” Sarma said.
As per NFHS-4 carried out in 2015-16, the percentage of child marriages in Assam was 30.8% against the national figure of 26.8%. Percentage of women in Assam between 15-19 years, who were mothers or pregnant, was 13.6% against the national figure of 7.9%.
