Around 2,500 people have been arrested in Assam in connection with the cases related to child marriage, said Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh on Tuesday. Many more cases of child marriage have come to light in Assam after the state government’s massive crackdown against the ill practice.’We have registered 4,074 cases and there are 8,000 accused persons.Out of the 8,000 accused, there are over 3,000 who have non-bailable offences and we will have to arrest them. There are around 5,000 which are noticeable and the process of giving notice to them has started,’ the DGP said.
‘It is very important that during the process we have found such incidents and we are also focusing on that incident. We have so far arrested around 2,500 people,’Singh added. On Monday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma raised concerns about the prevalence of teenage pregnancies in the state.’Our drive against child marriage is for public health and public welfare as the teenage pregnancy ratio in Assam is quite alarming – 16.8 per cent,’ Chief Minister Sharma Sarma said.
He further said,’We are resolved to continue this drive until we fulfil our objective. I urge the people to cooperate with us in controlling this harmful trend.’Sharing the district-wise data on teenage pregnancy, the Assam Chief Minister said that, Barpeta district has the highest teenage pregnancy ratio in the state with a ratio of 28.7 per cent in the year 2022.
The data revealed that a 27.9 percent teenage pregnancy ratio had been registered in Dhubri and South Salmara followed by 24.1 per cent in Goalpara, 22.3 per cent in Bongaigaon, 21.9 per cent in Kokrajhar, 21.1 per cent in Darrang, 20.8 per cent in Morigaon, 19.4 per cent in Chirang, 18.8 per cent in Nagaon and Hojai district.
According to the data shared by Assam CM, Assam registered 6,20,867 pregnancies in 2022 out of which 1,04,264 were of below the age of 19.Dhubri and South Salmara districts registered 51,831 cases out of which 14,438 were below the age of 19. On the other hand, as many as 64,941 pregnancies were registered in Nagaon and Hojai districts, out of which 12,188 are below the age of 19 years.
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