Police in Peshawar, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, arrested a 72-year-old man for making an attempt to marry a 12-year-old lady, in response to native newspaper Specific Tribune.
The authorities intervened earlier than the nikkah may happen. The lady’s father, Alam Syed, is accused of agreeing to promote his daughter to boyfriend Habib Khan, 72, for 500,000 Pakistani rupees.
Habib Khan was arrested, however the lady’s father managed to flee.
A case was registered underneath the Youngster Marriage Restraint Act in opposition to the 72-year-old man and the lady’s father. The registrar of the nikah concerned within the deal was additionally arrested.
Pakistan has one of many highest charges of kid marriage on this planet: an estimated 30 p.c of women are married earlier than the age of 18. The authorized age of marriage is 16, however compliance stays a problem.
Whereas the British-era Youngster Marriage Restriction Act units the minimal age for marriage, it prescribes a most penalty of 1 month’s imprisonment and a nice of Rs 1,000, which is taken into account inadequate to discourage violators.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province the place the tried marriage occurred, is one in all two provinces that has not enacted stronger laws to deal with youngster marriage.
In line with Unicef, in Pakistan a staggering 18.9 million ladies are married earlier than turning 18, and 4.6 million are married earlier than turning 16.
