Child marriages

"Hear me carefully, as long as I am alive, I will not let child marriage take place in Assam. I will not let this happen as long as Himanta Biswa Sarma is alive...I would like to challenge you politically, I will shut down this shop before 2026," Sarma said.

In the state of West Bengal, around 41.4 percent of girls get married before their legal marriageable age which is 18 whereas 20.1 percent of boys get married before they attain the age of 21. The constantly increasing numbers are worrisome given that child marriages are a human rights violation and a recognized form of sexual and gender-based violence.

Crackdown against child marriage continues as Assam police on Tuesday, 3rd October, arrested more than 800 accused persons.

The Federal Shariat Court dismissed a plea challenging the legitimacy of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013 of Sindh

In a fresh series of arrests regarding Assam's crackdown on child marriage, the state's CM tweeted that 3015 more people have been taken into custody by Assam police.

This is a day after a 16-year-old pregnant minor girl lost her life while she was on the way to a hospital in Assam's Bongaigaon district. The family members of the girl had tried to execute her delivery at home to cover up the crime of child marriage.

The Delhi High Court recently upheld the legality of a 15-year-old minor girl's marriage, stating that she is of 'Marriageable Age' under Islamic Sharia Law.

The Court said a Muslim marriage is governed by the Muslim personal law, which allows marriage above the age of 16.

Smriti Irani in the RS said that the government is taking all the steps to make sure that the girls under the marriageable age are secure and are being provided proper education.

The accused are booked under sections 370, 370 (A) r/w 511, Section 17 of the POCSO Act and Section 3 and 5 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (PITA).