Details indicate that the father of a 13-year-old girl in Swat married a 70-year-old man. When the authorities learned of the situation, they moved quickly to arrest the little girl’s father and groom.
Also placed under arrest were the witnesses to the marriage and the nikahkhuwan. The young girl’s medical needs prompted a hospital visit in the meantime.
Under the Pakistani Constitution, the state is required to protect all people, especially women and children, and the practice of underage marriage is against these fundamental rights.
The Marriage Restriction Act of 1929, which is the current law of Pakistan, stipulates that a female must be 16 years old and a boy must be 18.
Legislators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have tried more than once to raise the legal age of marriage to 18, but their attempts have stalled out of concern about opposition from hardline parties.
