GUWAHATI, July 18: After the jal doot programme, Assam’s child marriage crackdown initiative is set to be replicated as a model across India.
According to a report titled ‘Towards Justice: Ending Child Marriage’ released by India Child Protection (ICP) stated that the state has achieved a remarkable 81 per cent reduction in child marriage incidences between 2021-22 and 2023-24. In absolute numbers, the cases of child marriage in the study villages decreased from 3,225 in 2021-22 to 627 in 2023-24.
The ICP has prepared by collecting the primary data from a sample of 1,132 random villages across 20 districts of Assam, encompassing a total population of 21 lakhs and a child population of 8 lakhs.
The organisation also analysed the data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) and the Crime in India Reports published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) from 2018 to 2022.
“In 30 per cent of the villages surveyed in Assam, child marriage has been completely eradicated. Additionally, 40 per cent of villages reported a significant decline in the occurrence of child marriage,” the report stated.
“98 per cent of the respondents believed that the Assam government’s strict law enforcement initiatives in 2023 had a substantial and striking influence on the reduction of child marriages within their communities. The overwhelming majority of respondents acknowledged the effectiveness of stringent enforcement measures in curbing child marriage,” it said.
The report further said in 12 districts, out of 20, over 90 per cent of respondents believe that taking legal action such as arresting individuals and filing FIRs in cases related to child marriage can effectively address the occurrence of such cases. Overall, the same percentage for all 20 districts stands at 72 per cent. This community validation reinforces the need for sustained and rigorous prosecution strategies to address and eliminate child marriage.
The report said across India, 161 civil society organisations in 265 districts throughout 17 states and union territories successfully prevented 13,836 child marriages in 2023–2024 by using legal interventions and prevented 49,813 child marriages with the help of panchayats.
Appreciating the steps taken by the Assam government, the report said On January 23, 2023, Assam’s chief minister announced that the state government would launch a state-wide drive against child marriage under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) and the POCSO Act because marrying a minor girl is not only against the law, but it also breaches the fundamental rights of a girl child and is quite dangerous to her health.
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In early February, a crackdown on child marriage was imposed, which by its second week resulted in 3,015 arrests. This drive resulted in the registration of 5,225 FIRs in total under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).
The chief minister announced that the police will retrospectively arrest those involved in child marriage in the last seven years. This found resonance with the NCPCR supporting that the action taken by the Assam government against child marriages should be followed by other states as well.
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