Sindh CM orders inquiry on 45 underage girls' marriage in Dadu

KARACHI: Sindh’s Chief Minister has summoned report from Commissioner Hyderabad over underage marriages of 45 girls in a village of Dadu district, ARY News reported on Sunday.

CM Murad Ali Shah has noticed media report about underage marriages of 45 girls in Khan Mohammad Mallah village of Dadu and directed Hyderabad’s commissioner to submit report about child marriages.

Since the 2022 floods, child marriage has spiked in villages in Dadu district, one of the worst-hit areas that for months resembled a lake.

In Khan Mohammad Mallah village 45 underage girls have reportedly have been married since the last monsoon.

The chief minister has directed for constitution of a committee to inquire into the matter and submit report.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also asked about social, economic and legal dimensions of underage marriages. “If the girls were belonged to the flood affected families. If yes, how much relief provided to these families,” the CM questioned.

Sindh’s CM also directed the commissioner to submit his findings and also present recommendations over the matter.

It is to be mentioned here that many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.

Child marriages are common in several parts of Pakistan, which has the sixth-highest number of girls married before the age of 18 in the world, according to official data published in December.