Amid drive against child marriage in Assam, girl kills self as wedding plans go awry
Hailakandi (Assam), Feb 6: A 17-year-old girl allegedly died by suicide in Assam's Cachar district after her family prevented her from going ahead with wedding plans with her lover, police said on Monday.
The incident occurred amid the state government's crackdown on child marriage, which also led to the cancellation of several weddings of underage girls in Assam's Barak Valley comprising Hailakandi, Cachar and Karimganj districts.
At least 2,441 people have been arrested in the state till Monday in the continuing operation against child marriage, launched on February 3.
In Dhalai area of Cachar district, a 17-year-old girl hanged herself on Saturday after her family refused her permission to marry her lover now, a police officer said.
"She had prepared to elope with her lover, but the family came to know about it and prevented her. There have been about 19 arrests in child marriage cases in neighbouring villages," a relative of the girl said.
The number of arrests till Sunday evening was 243 in Barak Valley 80 in Cachar, 82 in Hailakandi 82 and 81 in Karimganj.
A number of people have cancelled scheduled weddings since the drive started, according to owners of wedding halls owners.
One such wedding was called off in Srimantakanishail village in Karimganj as the bride will be completing 18 years in two months.
"When the bride's family brought this point up, both the families decided to postpone the wedding till the girl attains the legal age for marriage," the owner of a wedding hall said.
The MLA of Sonia constituency in Cachar district, Karim Uddin Barbhuiya, urged Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to exempt those married for many years from police action.
In a statement, he said families are being disrupted and the future of the children of such families is at stake.
Barbhuiya urged the chief minister to stop harassing the poor and weaker sections of the society' in this drive against child marriage.
The state cabinet had recently approved a proposal to book men who have married girls below 14 years of age under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 will be registered against those who have married girls in the age group of 14-18 years, the cabinet decided.
The offenders will be arrested and the marriages declared illegal.
Assam has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, with child marriage being the primary cause, according to reports by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
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Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee holds roadshow in south Kolkata to end campaign
Kolkata (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee undertook a roadshow in south Kolkata spanning over six kilometres on Monday afternoon at the fag end of campaigning for the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly election.
The TMC chief was accompanied by party Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose and candidates Aroop Biswas and Debasish Kumar from Tollygunge and Rashbehari, respectively.
People waiting on the roadside and on rooftops and balconies waved at Banerjee as she greeted them with folded hands, walking briskly, as her party compatriots had a tough time keeping pace with her.
The chief minister is contesting from the Bhabanipur assembly seat, where she is pitted against her bete noire, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, who defeated her in the 2021 elections in Nandigram.
Banerjee was subsequently elected from Bhabanipur in a byelection.
The roadshow started at Sukanta Setu in the Jadavpur area and culminated at Gopalnagar crossing, past her Kalighat residence, with two small stopovers in between.
TMC flags, festoons, cutouts of Banerjee and banners with slogans in favour of the candidates adorned the roadsides through which the road show passed and culminated at around 5.30 pm.
A large number of TMC supporters participated in the roadshow that Banerjee conducted to end her campaign for the 2026 assembly election in West Bengal.
