Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (Assam)

In Assam, the Gram Panchayat Secretaries have taken on the important role of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) as outlined in the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Their main duty is to file FIRs for any offenses related to child marriage.

Key Points:

• The Assam government has designated Gram Panchayat Secretaries as Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs).
• The officers are tasked with the important job of lodging First Information Reports (FIRs) in accordance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (amended in 2019) or the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, based on the particular case.
• This designation is in accordance with Section 16 of “The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006”.
• The Assam government has also introduced a bill to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 years.
• The District Magistrate is also deemed a Child Marriage Prohibition Officer.
• The government may request respectable members of the locality with a record of social service or an officer of the Gram Panchayat or Municipality or an officer of the Government or any public sector undertaking or an office bearer of any non-governmental organisation to assist the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer.