Guwahati: A man committed suicide in Gauripur town in the Dhubri district of Assam on Tuesday.
According to reports, the man slitted his throat. Following the state government’s crackdown against child marriage he committed suicide out of fear of being imprisoned.
The deceased have been identified as Kasem Ali Parmani. He was a resident of Baghmara village.
Ali was married in 201. He had three kids in total. Investigations have shown that the deceased took the dicision out of fear of being arrested in connection with the anti-child marriage campaign.
Earlier, a 27-year-old woman committed suicide last week in the South Salmara-Mancachar area of Assam out of dread for her parents’ imprisonment after being married off at the age of 16 in 2012.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, announced in a tweet that more than 4000 incidents of child marriage have been reported in the state and promised tough measures against those responsible.
Assam’s various groups have criticised the act in specific situations.
At the same time, protests against the government’s crackdown have been done by the wives and family members of individuals who were arrested.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuiya said, “The act was prevailing in the country since 2007 but the government was silent. Now they are arresting husbands without considering the impact of it on wives and family members.”
According to the Chief Minister, the state police’s campaign against underage marriage will continue until the 2026 assembly elections.
It should be mentioned that the statewide campaign against child marriage has now reached its second week and 3,015 people have been arrested as of yesterday. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam informed the public of this and promised that the state will continue its fight against social evil.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Our crackdown against child marriage has entered it’s second week with 3.015 arrests made so far. The drive against this social evil will continue. The positive side is that now people are coming out and surrendering before police.”