Assam’s crackdown on child marriage has intensified further, with 565 people arrested and 481 cases registered across the state, according to the latest update shared by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The Chief Minister has said the drive will not stop until child marriage is eradicated from Assam, a message he has repeated as the arrest count has climbed through successive updates.
Most cases have been filed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, alongside relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to reports. Assam Police has been the operational arm of the drive, registering cases and carrying out arrests across districts.
Where the arrests are concentrated
Dhubri district has recorded the highest number of detentions, with 63 people detained across nine police station jurisdictions. In Nagaon district, police have arrested 43 people and registered 36 cases, according to a senior police official quoted in reports. The district-wise pattern suggests the drive is being pursued as a statewide operation rather than a symbolic sweep in a single area.
The figures have risen sharply from earlier counts in the same drive, which stood at 524 arrests and 441 cases in one update and then 537 arrests and 460 cases in the next, before reaching the latest tally.
Political backing — and the questions that remain
Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Wazed Ali Choudhary, has backed the crackdown, saying that if anyone is involved in child marriage, arresting them is the right action. He added that NGOs are also making significant efforts to prevent child marriage in the state, pointing to a prevention effort running alongside enforcement.
Assam launched a coordinated police campaign against child marriage in 2023, and earlier reports indicated more than 12,000 cases and over 11,000 arrests across the broader initiative. One evaluation cited in reports found child marriage decreased by 81 per cent in 1,132 villages across 20 districts between two survey periods, though that finding is a reported evaluation rather than an official verdict on the current drive.
The harder test lies ahead: how many of the newly registered cases lead to convictions, how quickly they move through the courts, and whether enforcement is matched by schooling, awareness and support for girls at risk. Assam’s recent push on tribal land titles in Dibrugarh and the multi-state crackdown on a drug network in the Northeast show a state government leaning heavily on enforcement drives. In the child marriage campaign, arrests are the visible measure — but protection, education and prevention will decide whether the numbers keep falling after the headlines fade.
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