GUWAHATI, India – Police in Assam have arrested more than 1,800 men for marrying or arranging marriages to underage girls, launching what the eastern Indian state’s chief minister said on Friday was the start of a sustained crackdown on the practice.
Police began the arrests on Thursday night, and more were likely, including of people helping to register such marriages in temples and mosques, Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters. “Child marriage is the primary reason behind child pregnancy, which in turn is responsible for high maternal and infant mortality rates,” he said.The United Nations estimates that India is home to the largest number of child brides in the world at around 223 million. Nearly 1.5 million underage girls get married there every year, the UN humanitarian agency Unicer said in a 2020 report.
“From Muslims to Hindus, Christians, tribal people to those belonging to the tea garden communities, there are men from all faiths and communities who got arrested for this heinous social crime,” Mr Sarma said. The Assam government has registered cases related to child marriage against 4,004 people, he added. REUTERS
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Indian state Andhra Pradesh moves capital to Visakhapatnam from AmaravatiOpposition parties said choosing Visakhapatnam as the new capital violated court orders. Read more at straitstimes.com. straits_times LimGoHome LimOut FvckMeriton
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »
2 foreign skiers killed, 19 rescued in avalanche in Indian KashmirA professional American skier was killed in another avalanche just days earlier in central Japan. Read more at straitstimes.com. straits_times
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »
Adani calls off US$2.5 billion share sale in major blow to Indian tycoonNEW DELHI: India's Adani Enterprises called off its US$2.5 billion share sale on Wednesday (Feb 1), citing market conditions, amid an ongoing rout in the wider Adani Group's stocks which was sparked by a US short-seller's critical report. 'Given the unprecedented situation and the current market volatility
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
2 Polish skiers killed in avalanche in Indian Kashmir, police saySRINAGAR — Two Polish skiers were killed and 21 other people rescued in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday (Feb 1) after an avalanche swept through the popular ski resort of Gulmarg, police said. The skiing group was made up of Russian and Polish nationals and two local guides, police said. A rescue operation was launched following the incident, Kashmir's police chief...
Source: asiaonecom - 🏆 10. / 59 Read more »
India finance minister announces new clean energy fundsBENGALURU, India: Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several new clean energy initiatives in the government's annual federal budget speech on Wednesday (Feb 1), saying “green growth” is a top priority for the country. More than US$8 billion dollars were announced for projects like
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
US, India partnership targets arms and AI to compete with ChinaWASHINGTON — The White House is launching a partnership with India on Tuesday (Jan 31) that President Joe Biden hopes will help the countries compete against China on military equipment, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Washington wants to deploy more Western mobile phone networks in the subcontinent to counter China's Huawei Technologies, to welcome more Indian computer chip specialists to the...
Source: asiaonecom - 🏆 10. / 59 Read more »