Pak minor girl forced to marry man, 72
Despite laws against child marriage, such incidents continued to occur in Pakistan.
CHARSADDA town police in Peshawar, Pakistan, have successfully prevented the marriage of a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man and arrested the groom, ARY News reported.
Authorities revealed that the girl's father, Alam Syed, had agreed to sell his daughter to the elderly man for PKR 500,000.
Just before the wedding ceremony (Nikkah), police intervened and apprehended the groom, identified as Habib Khan, along with the person officiating the marriage. However, the girl's father managed to escape.
Charges have been filed against the girl's father, the 72-year-old groom, and the officiant under the Child Marriage Act, according to ARY News.
Despite existing laws against child marriage, such cases persist in Pakistan. Recently, law enforcement agencies stopped similar attempts in Rajanpur and Thatta, where young girls were being forced into marriages with 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 another incident 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 arrested a 70-year-old man for marrying a 13-year-old girl in Swat. The girl's father arranged the marriage, but police quickly intervened, arresting both the groom and the father, ARY News reported.
Additionally, the officiant and marriage witnesses were detained, and the minor girl was taken to a hospital for a medical examination.
