Police in India have arrested greater than 2,000 males in a crackdown on unlawful baby marriages.
Among these arrested had been greater than 50 Hindu monks and Muslim clerics for allegedly performing marriages for women below the age of 18 within the northeastern state of Assam, police stated.
Many instances of kid marriage in Assam go unreported.
In India, males are legally allowed to marry aged 21 and girls at 18.
TV footage confirmed some younger ladies with infants of their arms crying and protesting in opposition to the sudden arrests of their husbands.
One lady requested: “We were struggling and somehow making ends meet. But we were happy together. Who will provide for our livelihood now that my husband has been arrested?”
State police chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh stated baby marriages had been one motive behind the state’s excessive toddler mortality and maternal mortality charges.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state’s prime elected official, stated: “I have asked the Assam police to act with a spirit of zero tolerance against the unpardonable and heinous crime on women.”
India’s parliament is contemplating elevating the age of marriage for ladies from 18 to 21 so as to deliver it according to males and promote gender equality.
Poverty, lack of training and social norms and practices, significantly in rural areas, are thought of to be the explanations behind baby marriages throughout the nation.
Source: information.sky.com”
