No decline in child marriages in minority areas despite Act

 'Trend is eloping with under-aged girls to avoid legal consequences'

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Under-age marriages have not come down in minority-dominated areas in the state despite the relevant Act and measures.

The committee on the population of the indigenous Muslims in the state also said that rampant child marriage is one of the reasons behind the population boom in the community.

According to the 2011 Census, the percentage of the Muslim population in the state was 34.22. According to an estimate in 2021, the percentage of the Muslim population in the state now is 40.03. However, indigenous Muslims in the state are hardly 5-6 per cent.

An NGO working against child marriage intervened and stopped 42 would be child marriages in the past five months in the Nagaon district. Talking to The Sentinel, an office-bearer of the NGO said, "We have prevented child marriages that came to our notice. However, many such marriages go unnoticed all over the state. The new trend is eloping under-aged girls to evade the vigilant NGOs and the police. Child marriages generally occur with the consent of guardians of girls. The parents are reluctant to hold arranged child marriage because of legal consequences. The government has given clear-cut instructions to the Kajis and registrars not to allow the marriage of any under-aged boys and girls. However, a section of fake Kajis solemnizes such illegal nikah."

According to Social Welfare Department records, from 2016-17 to 2020-21, the state had 3,126 child marriages. According to the 2019 UNICEF report, an estimated 33 per cent of girls in Assam got married before attaining 18 years of age.

To check the menace, the State Government has been banking on population control in sar and other minority-populated areas in the state. The government formed village children protection committees, appointed child marriage prohibition officers, and engaged village defence parties to check the menace. However, the ground reality is not at all satisfactory.

An official of the Minority Development Department said, "Acts and measures cannot reverse the trend if the local populace does not come forward to check the menace. Such incidents occur in remote areas. The people residing in such areas should inform the authorities concerned about child marriages. The government lays stress on girls' education to arrest the trend".

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