KP police foil marriage of underage girl

CHARSADDA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police foiled an attempt to marry off a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man in Charsadda, arresting the elderly groom and Nikkah Khwan, ARY News reported

According to police, the girl’s father, Alam Syed, had agreed to sell her to the elderly man for Rs 500,000. Soon before the Nikkah, the police intervened and arrested the 72-year-old groom identified as Habib Khan, and the Nikah Khwan.

However, the girl’s father managed to flee the scene while the case has been registered against the 72-year-old man, the girl’s father and the Nikkah Khwan under the Child Marriage Act.

Despite the existence of laws to prevent child marriages, there have been several instances of such incidents being reported.

The law enforcers had foiled such attempts in Rajanpur and Thatta, in recent times where young girls were being forced to marry older men.

In a similar incident, an 11-year-old girl was being married to a 40-year-old man in Rajanpur, Punjab.

Separately, a young girl was forcibly married to a 50-year-old landlord in Thatta but fortunately, she was saved after the timely action of the police.

On May 6, the police arrested a 70-year-old man for marrying a 13-year-old girl in Swat

A 13-year-old girl was married to a 70-year-old man in Swat by her father. Getting the information, the police swung into action and took the groom and father of the minor girl into custody.

The Nikkah khwan and the witnesses of the marriage were also taken into custody while the minor girl was sent to the hospital for her medical.