50 priests arrested in India over illegal child marriages

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – More than 50 clerics were arrested in India over illegal child marriages.

The Associated Press reports that more than 50 Hindu priests and Muslim clerics have been arrested in Assam, northeast India, for allegedly performing illegal child marriages involving girls under the age of 18.

State police said more than 2,000 men in total have been detained.

National Crime Records Bureau figures showing that only 155 cases of child marriages in the state were registered in 2021.

The legal marriageable age is 21 for men and 18 for women.