78 women arrested in Assam's child marriage crackdown: Report

In Assam's mega drive against child marriages, at least 78 women have been arrested among the 2,528 arrests that had been made as of Wednesday.

The women held have been identified as people who “facilitated” child marriages, Assam Inspector General (Law & Order) Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan told the Indian Express.

“These kinds of arrests of relatives or third parties have not been done in all cases. It has been done in cases where during the course of the investigation, some evidence came out of them facilitating it,” he told the publication.

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The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 excludes women from getting punishment. It says that "any person in charge of the child who does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to be solemnised, or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnised, including attending or participating in a child marriage shall be punishable" but “no woman shall be punishable with imprisonment”.

“As per Section 15, the offences under the child marriage act are cognizable and non-bailable which means that the accused persons (whether it is a woman or not) maybe arrested without a warrant and have to seek bail from the court. The safeguards and procedures under Chapter 5 of the CrPC have to be adhered to for arrest," Delhi-based advocate Lakshya Dheer told the publication.

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Only in nine out of 35 districts of Assam women have been arrested in the child marriage crackdown.

The Assam police launched the crackdown on child marriage on Friday with over 2,000 people, including Hindu and Muslim priests who officiated these weddings, arrested within the first two days.

Justifying the action, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said teenage pregnancy accounted for nearly 17 per cent of over 6.2 lakh pregnant women last year in the state.

The state cabinet recently approved a proposal to book men who have married girls below 14 years under the POCSO Act.

Cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 will be registered against those who have married girls in the age group of 14-18, the cabinet had decided.

The offenders will be arrested and the marriages declared illegal.

Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, with child marriage being identified as the primary cause, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).