JAKARTA - Police in Assam, India arrested more than 1,800 men for marrying or arranging marriages to underage girls, a first step towards a crackdown on the practice, according to the state's prime minister on Friday.
Police began arrests on Thursday evening, and most likely more, including people who helped register such marriages in temples and mosques, Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters.
"Children's marriage is the main reason behind child marriage, which in turn is responsible for the high mortality rate of mothers and babies," he explained.
It is known, although marriages under 18 are illegal in India, the law is publicly violated.
The United Nations (UN) estimates the country is home to the world's largest child bride of around 223 million. Nearly 1.5 million underage girls are married in India every year, UN children's agency UNICEF said in a 2020 report.
"From Muslims to Hindus, Christians, tribes to those who are members of the tea plantation community, there are men from all religions and communities who have been arrested for this heinous social crime," said Sarma.
"The Assam government has registered cases related to child marriage against 4,004 people," he added.
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