Guwahati, Oct 4 (IANS): Assam Police will conduct two operations a year until the social scourge of child marriage is eliminated from the state, Assam Director of General of Police (DGP) G. P. Singh said on Wednesday.
The DGP told reporters at the Assam Police Headquarters in Guwahati that there has been a noticeable decrease in child marriage instances. However, he acknowledged that the issue still exists.
"We have noticed that cases have decreased in the majority of the state's regions since our first operation against child marriage. However, the problem still exists in some areas," he stated.
At least 3,483 people have been arrested during the initial drive, which began in the month of February 2023, and 4,515 cases in all were registered. 95.5 per cent of the cases from the first phase have already been charged.
Earlier, Singh had said: "Our operations led us to unearth 710 incidents of child marriage, which were registered with 1,100 accused named, out of whom 915 people have been arrested so far. We shall conduct two operations a year till Assam is free of this evil, as directed by the chief minister.”
"I think that based on the progress we have made in the first two phases, as per the data, the numbers have fallen and it will probably take two more years to entirely weed out child marriage from Assam.”
He added: "We will comprehend the progress next time when we carry out our third part of the procedure, which will be in about six to eight months. I don't believe the issue will last much longer since those who engage in the practice will realize that the prospect of child marriage is impractical due to the legal penalty they would incur if they were found guilty and the fact that they can simply wait two, three, or four years before getting married.”
The Assam DGP responded that the police force already has enough facilities to regularly receive information about such cases and promptly take action.
"I want to add that since February, we have been regularly taking action against such cases," Singh said.