Guwahati | The recent arrests of over 3,000 people allegedly involved in child marriages in Assam has created a divide in the civil society, with a section asserting that mere law enforcement cannot be the solution while some arguing that at least the law is being discussed and may prove to be a deterrent.

More than 3,000 people allegedly associated with child marriages have been apprehended so far across Assam, and lodged in temporary jails, sparking protests by women who decried the arrest of sole breadwinners of their families.

Human rights lawyer Debasmita Ghosh said that once a marriage is consummated, the law considers it to be valid and children born out of such unions enjoy all legal rights.

“The law states that a child marriage is voidable only if a petition is filed before a district court by the person who was a child at the time of the marriage and if the petitioner is a minor, it can be filed through his or her guardian,”she told PTI.

If the petition is being filed by the person who was married as a child, it must be done so within two years of the person attaining adulthood, Ghosh said.

“In most of the arrests made, the couples may be adults now and if they have not filed petitions for annulling their marriages, the state has no business to interfere in their personal lives,”Ghosh added.

Besides, the law was enacted in 2006 and the name itself suggests marriages should be ‘prohibited' but why was it not done so by agencies responsible for it? she questioned.

Eminent academician Manorama Sarma said child marriages must end but this is a social evil, not a law and order problem.

“Taking care of women's education, health facilities and access to livelihood is the way to end it and not by implementing a law retrospectively. It should be strictly implemented prospectively,”the retired professor said.

Women rights activist Anurita Pathak Hazarika said a sociological analysis of child marriages must be looked into from the “gender lens and how inequality has an impact on these practices”.

Awareness on such issues, including sexual reproductive health rights, must be institutionalised by including it in the school curricula, she added.