In a commendable act, police in Charsadda town, Pakistan, successfully intervened to prevent the marriage of a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man. According to ARY News, the girl’s father, Alam Syed, had shockingly agreed to sell his daughter to the elderly man, Habib Khan, for a sum of PKR 500,000. Just before the wedding ceremony, known as Nikkah, police acted swiftly and apprehended the groom, Habib Khan, along with the individual officiating the marriage. However, the girl’s father managed to evade capture.
Charges have been filed against the girl’s father, the 72-year-old groom, and the officiant under the Child Marriage Act, as reported by ARY News. This incident underscores the persistent problem of child marriage in Pakistan, despite the existence of laws prohibiting such practices.
Recently, law enforcement agencies have successfully stopped similar attempts in Rajanpur and Thatta, where young girls were being forced into marriages with significantly older men. In Rajanpur, an 11-year-old girl was about to be married to a 40-year-old man, as reported by ARY News. In Thatta, a young girl was forcibly married to a 50-year-old landlord, but police intervention saved her just in time.
On May 6, police in Swat arrested a 70-year-old man for marrying a 13-year-old girl. The girl’s father had arranged the marriage, but police intervened promptly, arresting both the groom and the father. ARY News reported that the officiant and marriage witnesses were also detained, and the minor girl was taken to a hospital for a medical examination. (With Inputs from ANI)
