The Assam government has decided to book men who marry girls aged below 14 years in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the major reason for the high maternal and infant mortality rate in the state is child marriage.
POCSO Act of 2012 defines a child as an individual under the age of 18 and it criminalises sex between an under-age child and an adult.
The legal age for marriage is 18 years for women and 21 for men.
Assam has the highest MMR in the country, with 195 deaths per 1 lakh live births recorded between 2018 and 2020, according to data released by the Registrar General of India in 2022.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, Assam has the third highest maternal mortality ratio among states and union territories with 32 deaths per 1,000 live births.
