ASSAM CABINET has constituted a committee to frame a policy to rehabilitate victims of child marriage, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Thursday. “Today Assam Cabinet complimented Assam police for its campaign against child marriage, and further directed it to continue with the clampdown. The Cabinet also constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee to finalise a Rehabilitation Policy within 15 days for victims of child marriage,” Sarma tweeted. This comes against the backdrop of the completion of a week of Assam government’s crackdown against child marriage in the state. As of 5 pm on Thursday, 2,763 people across the state had been arrested in the drive while the police have registered FIRs in 4,135 cases. In the wake of these arrests, the state has witnessed women across the state pleading for the release of their husbands. Many of them have expressed their inability to support themselves and their families in the absence of their husbands. The Chief Minister had earlier stated that the government would work towards enrolling women affected by the crackdown under its Orunodoi scheme for financial assistance to vulnerable women and other welfare schemes, and that the state would create a “rehabilitation fund” for victims.
