Several families have cancelled pre-scheduled child marriages: Assam CM

Several pre-planned child marriages have been cancelled in Assam over the last few days in the wake of ongoing police crackdown, claimed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday.

On Twitter, he wrote, "Reports are coming from various parts of Assam that several families have cancelled pre-scheduled marriages between under-age children after our drive against such illegal practices. This is definitely a positive impact of our two-week long crackdown against child marriage."

Earlier, Sarma said that after the government's drive against the child marriage in the state, people were coming out and surrendering before police.

He further mentioned that police action will continue and the state government has prepared an aim to achieve zero child marriage in the state.

It is worth mentioning that more than 3,000 people have been arrested in child marriage cases. At 216, Hojai district recorded the highest number of arrests so far followed by Nagaon (184).

In the meantime, thousands of arrests in child marriage cases have attracted some tough questions from the Gauhati High Court. While granting an anticipatory bail to nine persons related to this, the court observed that the government's drive has created havoc in the private lives of people.

--IANS

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