The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed a bill that makes it mandatory for marriages among Muslims to be registered with the government.

The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill replaces the British-era Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, which dealt with these matters till now.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the passing of the bill marked a “historic day” in the fight against child marriage. He said that the new law will ensure that marriages do not take place below the legal age of 18 years for women and 21 years for men.

“It will also act as a strict deterrent against teenage pregnancy and improve overall growth of our girls,” Sarma said.

The chief minister added that his next target is to ban polygamy.

The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, allowed registrars operating at the district level to grant licences to Muslims to register marriages and divorces in line with Islamic personal law.

When the new legislation was tabled in the Assembly on August 22, Sarma said that the 1935 Act made registration of Muslim marriages voluntary and that it allowed guardians to apply for the registration of marriages of underage children.

In February, the state Cabinet approved the Assam Repealing Ordinance, 2024, to quash the 1935 Act.

However, experts had argued that the repeal would lead to confusion. They told Scroll that the Assam government did not need to repeal the whole Act if stopping child marriages was the only objective. They said only Section 8(1) could have been amended for the purpose.

Muslims constitute 34% of the northeastern state’s population, according to the 2011 Census.

In February 2023, Assam Police launched a crackdown on child marriages, arresting more than 4,000 persons under either the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act or the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Also read: Assam’s repeal of Muslim marriage act will not curb child marriage – but could pressure Muslims