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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FIR against some X users for spreading 'misinformation' that 'Amul' ghee used in Tirupati laddus
Ahmedabad, Sep 21: Police on Saturday registered a case against seven users of social media platform 'X' for allegedly spreading misinformation that the "low quality" ghee used for making laddus at the Tirupati temple belonged to the 'Amul' brand, an official said.
A massive political row has erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat was used in making laddus made Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati during the previous government in the state.
Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its milk and dairy products under the brand name 'Amul', has denied having supplied ghee (clarified butter) to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple.
As per the FIR, X users of seven different handles spread misinformation that ghee with animal fat used for preparing laddus for Tirupati Balaji temple belonged to the 'Amul' brand with the intention of harming the reputation of the GCMMF, the cyber crime police station official said.
These X users spread misinformation that ghee sold under the Amul brand was used to prepare laddus which is then used as 'prasad' (offering) at the temple in Tirupati, thereby damaging the reputation of the co-operative organisation, it said.
The FIR was filed at the Ahmedabad cyber crime police station.
The accused persons were booked under sections 336 (4) and 196 (1) (a) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with forgery intending to harm the reputation of any party, and promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc, respectively.
The police also invoked provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, the official said.
The GCMMF issued a clarification on its X handle 'Amul.coop' on Friday night and said it never supplied Amul ghee to the TTD.
"We also wish to clarify that Amul ghee is made from milk at our state-of-the-art production facilities which are ISO-certified. Amul ghee is made from high quality pure milk fat...This post is being issued to stop this misinformation campaign against Amul," it said.
GCMMF Managing Director Jayen Mehta said that certain persons were spreading misinformation that the low-quality ghee used at the Tirupati temple was supplied by Amul.
"Cyber crime has registered an FIR against those spreading misinformation against us," Mehta said.
He said that such misinformation is a matter of serious concern for 36 lakh dairy farmer families dependent on Amul for their livelihood.
"We never supplied the ghee to the temple. We have lodged an FIR to stop this misinformation," he said.
