{"id":22308,"date":"2023-01-24T06:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T01:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northeastrising.in\/?p=22308"},"modified":"2023-01-24T06:56:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T01:26:45","slug":"assam-to-book-men-marrying-minor-girls-under-pocso-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northeastrising.in\/test\/assam-to-book-men-marrying-minor-girls-under-pocso-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Assam to book men marrying minor girls under POCSO Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guwahati, Jan 24: <\/strong>Assam Cabinet has decided to book men who marry minor girls under stringent laws prescribing imprisonment from two years to life, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated.<\/p>\n

The Assam cabinet gave its nod to the state police to crackdown against child marriages across the state, officials said.<\/p>\n

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that instructions had been issued to the state police to carry out a massive crackdown against those indulged in child marriages, arrest them and initiate legal action.<\/p>\n

The crackdown will start right now and could be achieved within 15 days, he stated.<\/p>\n

Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality and the primary cause is child marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big factor behind incidents of maternal and infant mortality rates in our state is child marriages. Hence our cabinet decided that legal action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will be taken against anyone who marries a girl under 14 years of age,\u201d<\/strong> said Sarma.<\/p>\n

He brought up that child marriages are illegal and even a husband can\u2019t have sexual relations with a girl below 14 years of age. \u201cAnd for those who marry children between 14-18 years, action will be taken under provisions of POCSO,\u201d<\/strong> he added.<\/p>\n

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The decision was taken after the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5<\/a><\/span>) carried out between 2019 and 2020 showed 31.8% of women aged between 20-24 years in the northeastern state were married before the legal age of 18 years, which is higher than the national figure of 23.3%.<\/p>\n

\u201cNFHS-5 showed that 11.7% of women aged between 15-19 years who were married were already mothers or pregnant during the period of survey (compared to the national figure of 6.8%). It shows that child marriages are happening at an alarming rate in Assam,\u201d<\/strong> said Sarma.<\/p>\n

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In today\u2019s #AssamCabinet<\/a>, we took a slew of decisions pertaining to curbing child marriage, reduction of IMR & MMR, promoting police personnel permanently injured in the line of duty, recognition to services of contractual teachers, creating centres for sporting excellence, etc. pic.twitter.com\/BsRRYcCd3H<\/a><\/p>\n

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 23, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n