‘Thousands of husbands will be arrested in next 5-6 months as…’: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that thousands of husbands will be arrested in the next five-six months as the state cracks down on men who have married underage women. 

CM Sarma’s comments come in the wake of Assam government's decision to bring stringent laws to check child marriages and underage motherhood. The state has decided to evoke the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. 

“Thousands of husbands will be arrested in the next five-six months as it is a crime to have sexual relations with a girl below 14 years of age, even if he is her legally wed husband,” Sarma was quoted as saying by PTI.

The legal marriage age for women is 18 years. People who marry girls that are younger will also be brought to book. 

“Many (men who marry girls) could face life imprisonment,” Sarma said.

CM Sarma also said that women should embrace motherhood at the “appropriate age” as it otherwise leads to medical complications. The Assam CM iterated the state government’s commitment to stopping underage marriages and motherhood at the event in capital Guwahati. 

“Women should not wait too long to become mothers as it leads to complications. The appropriate age for motherhood is 22 years to 30 years,” Sarma said, adding with a smile that women who haven’t married yet should do so soon. 

“We have been speaking against early motherhood. But at the same time, women should not wait too long either as many do ... God has created our bodies in a manner that there is an appropriate age for everything,” Sarma added.

The comments come after the Assam cabinet’s Monday decision to book men marrying girls below 14 years of age under POCSO act. Men married to girls between 14-18 years of age will be tried under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

The move by the Assam government aims to check high maternal and infant mortality rate in the state with the primary cause being child marriage, CM Sarma had said post the cabinet meeting. He had informed that around 31 percent of marriages in Assam on average are in the prohibited age group.

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(Inputs from PTI)