CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says Assam is planning 7 years jail for polygamy in new bill

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the proposed law against polygamy would have a minimum punishment of seven years.

Speaking at the launch of the second phase of the ‘Chief Minister Nijut Moina’ scheme on Monday, October 27, he said the bill will be introduced in the Assembly on November 25, the first day of the winter session.

“If a man marries another woman without legally divorcing his wife, there will be a punishment of seven years or more imprisonment, regardless of her religion,” he told the beneficiary girls present at the event.

He said that the accused may say that his religion allows it, but the BJP government will never allow polygamy.

Sarma said, “We will protect the dignity of women in this state at any cost.”

The government had last year launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Nijut Moina’ scheme to support girl child education by providing monthly financial assistance. Rs 1,000 for class 11 students, 1,250 more for first year undergraduates 2,500 for first year postgraduate and 10 months for B.Ed students.

Sarma said, “Due to this scheme, the enrollment rate increased and the school dropout rate of girls declined significantly compared to last year. A total of 3.5 lakh girls will benefit from this scheme this year.”

Last week, the CM had said that the state government would introduce several bills on issues like ‘love-jihad’ and polygamy in the upcoming assembly session.