Himanta urges women to attain motherhood between 22-30 years

In Assam, the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urged women to have children at the "appropriate age" of 22 to 30 years. He also vowed to arrest men who marry young girls and have physical relationships with them. The Assam Police arrested four people in connection with a child marriage in Lower Assam's Barpeta District. This was the first such arrest after the state cabinet gave its nod to the police to act against men who married girls below 14 years and arrest them under the Pocso Act. Those found marrying girls in the 14 to 18 age group are booked under the Child Marriage Act 2006. "Child marriages should stop and one should not embrace motherhood at an early age but at the same time women should not attain motherhood late complications may also arise if one becomes a mother at an advanced age," Sarma said. Sarma affirmed that his government will deal firmly with those compelling women to become mothers before 18 years and propagating child marriages. "Maybe thousands of men will be arrested in the next five to six months many will get life imprisonment," he said. Sarma said establishing physical relations with children below 14 years though she may be ones wife may lead to life imprisonment as per law while men marrying a girl below 18 years will be