Gauhati High Court: Child marriage crackdown ‘absolutely weird’

Altogether 2,441 people have been arrested since the drive against child marriage was launched in Assam on February 2. (File photo)

  • ‘These are not matters of custodial interrogation. You (state) proceed as per law, we have nothing to say’
  • ‘The arrests are causing havoc in private life of people. There are children, there are family members, there are old people’
  • More than 3000 people have been apprehended against registration of 4,225 child marriage cases so far

The Gauhati High Court granted bail to nine persons held in custody in connection with action against child marriages and said that there was no need for custodial interrogation of the accused in such cases.

The HC observed that the state government action has created “havoc in the private life of people” and said the whole state of affair is “bad idea”. The Judge said: “These are not matters of custodial interrogation. You (state) proceed as per law, we have nothing to say. If you find somebody guilty, file a chargesheet. Let him or her face trial and if they are convicted, they are convicted.”

The court said these were not the cases related to Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS), smuggling or stolen property.

The high court strongly objected to the slapping IPC section in several arrests. The court observed: “Why Section 376 (of IPC)? Is there any allegation of rape here? These are all weird allegations, absolutely weird.”

“If marriage is taking place in violation of Law, the law will take its own course. These cases have been happening since time. We will only consider if immediate custodial interrogation is required or not. At this moment, this court thinks that these are not matters for custodial interrogation. We will ask them to appear and record their statements. These are not NDPS, smuggling, stolen property cases,” he said, according to LiveLaw.

Till February 14, altogether 3,031 people have been apprehended against registration of 4,225 child marriage cases. The crackdown had started on February 3 with 4,004 FIRs.

While rights activists and opposition parties have denounced the move, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma remained relentless. Notably, most of the marriages were solemnised years ago, leading families to lose earning members and fathers.

Apart from rights violation, some political parties accuse the ruling BJP of taking selective action against minorities, mainly Muslims.

Raising concern over the crackdown, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, “What will happen to those girls who have been married? The Assam government has booked 4000 cases and is talking of booking 4000 more. So, who will take care of those girls? You are putting a mountain of troubles over them.”

Badaruddin Ajmal, president of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which is the third largest party in Assam assembly, reacted sharply on the crackdown calling the action is to ‘harass’ Muslims. He also targetted the state government saying that child marriage is already a punishable offence under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2007, but there was no campaign run by the state till date.

“Now the government is making arrests, and soon it will declare that 90 per cent of the boys and girls were Muslims. The arrests will be one-sided and we know that. This government is anti-Muslim. BJP is there, and RSS is there, so there will be pressure on them,” Ajmal had said. The AIUDF had 16 seats in the last assembly elections. The party contested just 20 seats of the total 126 in the state, AIUDF’s strike rate was an impressive 80%.

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