Guwahati: The Assam government will introduce a bill in the state legislative assembly banning polygamy in the state on November 25. Announcing the historic decision CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We will introduce the bill banning polygamy in the state. If a person marries a second woman without legally separating with the first wife, he will face a punishment of a minimum 7 years of imprisonment as per the act.”
Once the bill passed in the state assembly and signed by the governor, Assam will be amongst a very few states of India having an act against polygamy. The BJP government has taken many corrective measures to safeguard the rights of women and girls in the state. The Assam government has been conducting series of drives against child marriage in the state starting from 2023. Thousands were arrested for their involvement in child marriage and over 12 cases were registered by police across the state on child marriage.
Assam records a sharp decline in child marriage cases with 89 percent decline amongst girls and 91 percent decline amongst boys during the period April 2022 to March 2025. A report published by an USA based NGO Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change for Children (CLAB) stated the statistics.
Earlier CM Sarma said, “We will table many important and historic bills in the coming session of assembly in November. The bills address issues like Love Jihad, Polygamy, preservation of Satras ( Vaishnavite cultural hub) and land rights for the tea community.”
It should be mentioned that Love Jihad has become a major concern for Hindu community in the state as the cases are dangerously increasing in the state. Hundreds of cases of Love Jihad have been reported from various parts of Assam and even an entire family of a Hindu girl was killed by a Muslim man in Jirhat district last year in a love jihad case. Hindu organisations have been demanding a tough act to curb the menace of Love Jihad in the state. These organisations hope that after enactment of the new laws the anti social elements will be controlled as per law for the safeguard of the society.
