In Assam’s Morigaon district, the eyes of Nimee and Rezina reflect the fear and insecurity that plagues their village. Nimee is among the thousands of child brides whose husbands were arrested in a statewide crackdown against child marriage by the Assam Police. Meanwhile, Rezina’s son is in jail for having married his girlfriend. As of Saturday, the police had arrested 2,258 people, including Hindu and Muslim priests who conducted such weddings. The police have a list of 8,000 accused in total.
In less than two weeks, the police had registered 4,074 cases of child marriage after the state Cabinet decided on January 23rd to arrest offenders and launch an extensive awareness campaign against this issue. Nimee’s husband was arrested in the early hours of Thursday when there was a knock on the door and the police were outside. Nimee and her one-and-a-half-month-old son are now struggling to make ends meet as her husband provided for the family by selling food items in the village square.
Rezina’s son was arrested shortly after he returned home with his father from Kerala, where they had gone to bring back an injured uncle. Despite her daughter-in-law not being underage, there was an error in her Aadhaar card that led to her son’s arrest. Many women in the village, including Rajibul’s wife, were not minors at the time of marriage but had wrongly entered birth dates while enrolling for Aadhaar cards. Some families are able to provide support, but others like Riya Devi and Rupa Das are left at the mercy of the authorities after the arrest of their husbands.
Riya, who is 16 years old, is staying temporarily at a government-run shelter home with her one-year-old daughter and has nowhere else to go. Rupa, who is also 16 years old and nine months pregnant, is pleading for her husband’s release. A gender specialist at the state’s Social Welfare Department is working to secure the future of these women, who are considered children themselves. The drive against child marriage is welcome, but it is important to handle these women sensitively.
The people in the state were aware of the laws prohibiting child marriage, but they were never implemented. The government should have warned people of the consequences, said Yudishter, Gopal’s elder brother. Organizations have attempted to raise awareness, but it was not enough. The drive against child marriage will continue until the next assembly elections in 2026, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, with child marriage being the primary cause. According to the National Family Health Survey, 31% of marriages in the state are in the prohibited age group.
