Guwahati: In a tragic incident, a woman allegedly committed suicide because she was afraid her father would be arrested as she had been married off when she was a minor has come to light amid Assam’s widespread crackdown on child marriage cases.
The incident took place in the South salmara-Mankachar district on Friday evening.
The deceased have been identified as Seema Khatun also known as Khushbu.
As per reports, Seema was a widow whose spouse had passed away two years ago due to COVID-19.
Reportedly, the woman took the drastic action at her father’s home where she had been staying with her two children after the death of her husband.
Seema allegedly hanged herself from her room’s ceiling fan after the chief minister issued an order on child marriage cases.
Director General of Police (DGP) G P Singh reported that as of yesterday, 2,044 arrests had been made in connection with instances involving child marriage in Assam.
Speaking to reporters, the top cop said, “The chief minister had received information about child marriage being rampant in several parts of the state, after which he ordered an inquiry. As per the directive, data of three years pertaining to child marriage cases were accessed.”
“Following this, all the district SPs were told to get in touch with respective village defence parties, Gaon Buras, chiefs of various communities and prominent people of various communities and on the basis of that we have observed that there are instances of child marriage in various parts of the state,” he said.
He continued, “On the basis of this, we have specific instances where cognizable cases were made out and on the basis of that during the last two days, 4074 cases were registered across different districts of Assam. From yesterday, we started taking action on the basis of FIRs that were registered in different districts and till 3 pm we have arrested 2044 people from different districts in the state.”
The arrests comes after the state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the state government’s tough stance against child marriage cases in the state.
CM Sarma said that individuals who married girls below 14 years of age will be booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 will be registered against those who have married girls in the 14-18 age group.