Assam prohibition of polygamy bill tabled in house; STs to be excluded

Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday tabled the Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025, in the assembly as part of his government's efforts to ban polygamy. The bill's provisions include seven years imprisonment for those who practice polygamy and victims of polygamy to be compensated.

Scheduled Tribes of the state have been kept out of the purview of the bill due to existing customs in tribal societies. The bill will not be implemented in Sixth Schedule areas like BTAD, Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong.

"Polygamy is prohibited with respect to the person who shall not marry if he has a living spouse or is not legally separated from the other spouse by following due procedure of law or is party to a marriage which is not yet dissolved or annulled by decree of divorce," said Sarma. The Bill seeks to provide compensation to the victims as they have to suffer immense pain and hardship due to polygamous marriage.


"To save society from the scourge of such practices, this Bill has been framed with the objective of streamlining society," the chief minister added.