Eight held in Assam's Karimganj for solemnising child marriage

Guwahati: Continuing its drive against child marriage, the Assam police on Wednesday arrested a Kazi (marriage registrar) and seven others for allegedly officiating a child marriage in Karimganj.

Informing that they arrested the Kazi and members of the groom, police said they had information about a marriage function being held at the Kabariband village under Patharkandi police station in Karimganj on Monday evening.

Pointing out that accordingly an operation was launched to arrest the people involved, the officer-in-charge of the Patharkandi police station Dipak Das told reporters that the marriage was being solemnised when police reached the spot. “…We arrested them and rescued the girl,” said Mr Das.

Mr Das claimed that the groom, aged around 18, claimed he was in a relationship with the minor girl for a long time, and they were getting married with the blessings of both families.

Mr Das said that they checked the birth certificate of the minor girl, a student of Class nine, according to which she is 17 years old but seemed much younger.

He said that they arrested the groom identified as Bilal Uddin, his father Zahraul Islam, the father of the girl, Shabbir Uddin, the Kazi and some other family members who were attending the marriage ceremony.

A case under different sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage (PCMA) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act has been registered at Patharkandi police station against all eight persons and they have been sent to judicial custody, police said.

“All of them were produced before the court on Tuesday and have been sent to judicial custody by the judges. The minor girl has been sent to a shelter home where her statement will be recorded”, said Mr Das.

It is significant that the Assam government had launched a drive against child marriage last year, resulting in numerous arrests and case registrations.

In the first phase in February, 3,483 people were arrested and 4,515 cases were registered, followed by 915 arrests and 710 cases in the second phase in October 2023.