Pakistan arrests 10 for child marriage

Lahore, Feb 6: Pakistani Police have arrested 10 persons for allegedly arranging the child marriage of two minor girls, including a seven-year-old, in two separate incidents in the Punjab province.

In the first, police arrested six people, including a cleric, for arranging the marriage of six-year-old girl with a seven-year-old boy in Multan district of Punjab.

District Police Officer Multan Mehr Riaz Hussain said the accused - fathers of both children, three witnesses and the cleric - have been booked under the Child Marriage Restraint Act which carries maximum six months imprisonment or a fine of Rs 50,000 or both.

Fraz Aziz, a witness in the marriage, denied that such a ceremony was held but Hussain said the police has a video of the ceremony. In the second incident in Rawalpindi, four men, including a cleric, have been arrested for marrying an eight-year-old girl to a 40-year-old man.

A raid was conducted at a house, where the minor girl was found. She was forcibly married to a rival of her elder brother to settle a dispute.

They were subsequently produced before a magistrate who sent them to Adaila Jail Rawalpindi for 14 days judicial remand.

In Pakistan, the law stipulates the age of marriage to be 16 for women and 18 for men but religious scholars at the Council of Islamic Ideology say it is not in accordance with Islamic teachings.

PTI