The Assam Cabinet on Monday decided to book men who marry girls below 14 in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality whose primary cause is child marriage with the state having an average of 31 per cent cases pf marriages in the prohibited age, Sarma said a press conference following the cabinet meeting.
According to the law, even the husband cannot touch his wife if she is below the age of 14 and besides declaring the marriage as illegal, the male partner is liable to be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The POCSO Act provides protection against sexual abuse to all children below the age of 18.
Asked about legal action if both partners are below the age of 14, the Chief Minister said that in that case the marriage will be illegal and the boy will be sent to a reform house as minors cannot be tried in the court.
He said that those marrying girls in the age group of 14-18, will be tried under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and necessary steps will be taken under this law.
The police have been directed to conduct a massive crackdown against child marriage across the state and they will take both legal action and awareness campaigns against it.
The Gram Panchayat secretaries will be designated as ‘Child Marriage Prevention (Prohibition) Officers and it will be their duty to file a complaint against any child marriage taking place in their area, Sarma said.
A massive drive against child marriage will be launched in the state and the police along with the district autorities have been asked to both investigate the cases and counsel people against child marriage.
Dhubri with 50 per cent cases and South Salmara with 44.7 per cent top the list of districts with high rate of child marriages.
”We minutely analysed the National Family Health Survey data of 2019-20 and found that 11.7 per cent of girls are burdened with early motherhood and though the state is doing well in the other health parameters, maternal and child mortality is a matter of concern”, Sarma said.
As the maternal and child mortality is caused mainly due to early marriage, ”we have decided to make the campaign against child marriage as priority in governance and we hope to end it in the next five years”, he added.
He pointed out that though the ten minority dominated districts have high incidences of child marriages but all districts have reported cases which is a matter of concern.
”This is a neutral and secular action. It will be carried out across the state and is not targeted against any community. There is no need to give any political colour to it”, he said.
The Karnataka government has already engaged and appointed Child Protection Officers and ”this has been an inspiration for us. They have prevented 11,000 child marriages and booked 10,000 cases”, Sarma said.
Child marriage protection laws are there but we have decided to launch a campaign for its strict implementation to end this practice so that the rate of maternal and infant mortality decreases, the Chief Minister added.
All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) President Rejaul Karim Sarkar welcomed the Chief Minister’s announcement and hoped that it would not remain a mere policy decision.
“We are working to end child marriage in the minority dominated areas for the last five years and had submitted several memoranda to the government but did not get any response from the authorities”, he said.
Just asking the police to file cases will not solve the problem but all sections of the society must be involved to campaign against child marriage, so that the people are convinced that it is a wrong practice, Sarkar said.
“Educational facilities in the backward areas must be improved as this alone can bring awareness among the younger generation who will then refuse to get married”, he said.
Sarkar said that they are not sure whether the government decision will solve the problem or not but “we will continue with our campaign and ensure that there was no child marriage, atleast in the minority dominated areas, in another five years”.
