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Police in Assam have arrested more than 1,800 men for arranging or concluding marriages with underage girls, the head of the regional government was quoted as saying by Reuters. 

The arrests began last night, with some of those detained helping to register arranged marriages in temples and mosques, Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

"Child marriage is the main cause of child pregnancy, which in turn is linked to high maternal and child mortality," he added.

Marriage to people under the age of 18 is illegal in India, but the law is often ignored by the general public.

The UN estimates that India has the highest number of child brides in the world, numbering 223 million.

Nearly 1.5 million underage girls are married each year in the country, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) wrote in a 2020 report.

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Sarma clarifies that for this crime against humanity, many men and communities of many religions have been arrested.

The Assam government has registered 4,004 child marriage cases.