Assam's child bride recounts crackdown as police arrest 2,258 people, including Hindu & Muslim priests

Nimees eyes do not sparkle with the joy of new motherhood instead they reflect the fear insecurity and sense of foreboding that stalks her village in Assams Morigaon districtRezina Khatun stares vacuously into the distance trying to make sense of the sudden apocalypse which has struck her tillnow happy worldWhile Nimee is among the thousands of child brides whose husbands were arrested in a statewide crackdown against child marriage by the Assam Police over the last two days Rezina is a mother whose sons romantic escapade which had ended with marriage has landed him in jail nowAlso readBharat Jodo Yatra booster dose for Cong but impact on pollbound states depends on followup tackling riftsIn the drive against child marriage police had till Saturday arrested 2258 people including Hindu and Muslim priests who conducted such weddings Police said there is a list of a total 8000 accusedThe police had registered 4074 cases of child marriage in less than a fortnight after the state Cabinet decided on January 23 to arrest offenders besides launching an extensive awareness campaign against the menaceThere was a knock on the door around 2 am on Thursday We opened the door and found policemen outside They took away my husband Nimee told PTI in a feeble voice as her oneandhalfmonthold son cried in her arms just as he had when his father was being arrestedThe 17yearold had eloped and tied the knot with Gopal Biswas who is in his twenties more than a year back and were starting off their family with the husband providing for them by selling pakoras and other savouriesThe names of those affected were changed to protect their identitiesWe barely earn enough to feed our own families Who will look after Nimee and her son She has been inconsolable barely eating anything The child is also getting sick now said Yudishter Gopals elder brother who lives in the same house along with their aged parentsRezinas son Rajibul Hussain was picked up from their home around 6 pm on Thursday barely a few minutes after he had reached home with his father after returning from a trip to Kerala where they had gone to bring back his injured uncleMy daughterinlaw is not underage but there was some error in her Aadhaar card due to which my son is now behind bars She has gone to our native place some distance away to get her birth records Rezina claimed trying to convince whoever cared to listenA neighbour of the family claimed that many like Rajibuls wife were not minors at the time of the marriage but their dates of birth were wrongly entered while enrolling for Aadhaar cardsData on the age was taken by the police from local health workers who have the information based on the Aadhaar Now we are helping these women to get their original birth records so that their husbands can get bail he claimedWhile some are getting help and support from their families many like Riya Devi are left to the mercy of the authorities after the arrest of their husbandsWe dont have any other family as we had eloped and got married Where am I to go with my oneyearold daughter now from here questioned 16yearold Riya who is staying temporarily at a governmentrun shelter homeAnother inmate Rupa Das also 16 years old and nine months pregnant shared the same uncertainty Set my husband free We had married with consent What will I do now if he is not around she pleadedParimita Deka a gender specialist at the states Social Welfare Department is working with the likes of Riya and Rupa The drive against child marriage is very welcome But we also have a responsibility towards these women now she saidMost are children themselves We have to handle them sensitively and secure their future Deka added between counselling sessions to pacify the distraught womenWhile child marriage is rampant in the state the people were not altogether ignorant of the laws prohibiting itWe knew there was some kind of law but it was never implemented Government should have warned us that there is such strict action for any lapse and we would have been careful Yudishter maintainedAnother local businessman Umar Ali said organisations used to create some awareness regarding it but it was not enough at most timesChief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the drive against child marriage will continue till the next assembly elections in 2026Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality with child marriage being the primary cause as an average of 31 per cent of marriages registered in the state are in the prohibited age group according to the National Family Health SurveyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever