Hailakandi, Sept 14: The police have arrested 15 people in Assam’s Hailakandi district for allegedly conducting child marriages by preparing fake documents.
Acting on a complaint filed by a registered qazi that 16 people were involved in conducting child marriages by posing as qazis, the police on Wednesday launched an operation in different parts of the district, police sources said.
Although 16 persons were taken into custody, one was let off due to lack of evidence, additional superintendent of police, Shamir Daptari Baruah said.
The arrested persons are accused of conducting child marriages by preparing fake documents, he said.
The arrests were made from Hailakandi town, Panchgram, Katlicherra, Algapur, Lala, Ramnathpur and Bilaipur areas of the district, Baruah said.
The arrested persons were produced in a court on Thursday and remanded to police custody for interrogation.
The state government began a massive crackdown on child marriage in February this year, arresting over 3,000 people, which included men who had married minors, family members and qazis, who had forced minor girls to enter matrimony illegally.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 10 announced that the state would launch the second round of its crackdown against child marriage within the next few days, during which he said another 3,000 people would be arrested. (PTI)
