After successful authorities action, the marriage of a 12-year-old woman and a 72-year-old man named Habib Khan was called off. The girl’s father managed to elude the police while he was able to apprehend the groom and the” Nikah Khwan” ( a person who solemnizes the marriage ).
A circumstance has been registered against the girl’s parents, the 72- yr- aged man, and the’ Nikkah Khwan ‘ under the Child Marriage Act, according to ARY News. Even though laws prohibiting child marriage exist, these situations continue to occur in several parts of Pakistan.
The girl’s parents, Alam Syed, had apparently agreed to sell his child to the old man for PKR 500, 000.
Incidents of child marriage on the rise
Similar efforts have been thwarted in Rajanpur and Thatta in recent years, where young ladies were being forced to marry older people by law enforcement. In Rajanpur, Punjab, an 11- year- older girl was set to marry a 40- year- aged man, while in Thatta, a younger girl was violently married to a 50- year- ancient landlord before the police took action and rescued the girl.
In another event on May 6, a 70-year-old man was detained by the police in Swat for marrying a 13-year-old child. The girl’s father had arranged the wedding, but the authorities quickly took the man and the parents into prison. The small girl was taken to a doctor for a clinical examination, along with the” Nikkah Khwan” and the wedding witnesses, and they were also detained.
Legitimate age for marriage in Pakistan
In Pakistan, the legal age for marriage varies based on gender. Although the country’s regulations allow men to married at age 18 but for women to wed at the younger age of 16, the internationally recognized maximum age for both males and females is 18.
Although the law passed in 2013 to increase the age of marriage for both genders to 18, this progressive change has n’t been implemented in every province, despite the fact that Sindh province made a step toward gender equality. Other parts of the country continue to experience the same gender gap in legal marriage age.
