Police foil child marriage bid

Groom, family, nikah registrar manage to escape from the spot

SHIKARPUR: Police conducted a raid in Lakhi Dar area of Shikarpur, foiling an attempted child marriage bid. A 12-year-old girl was being married to Bilawal Banglani, 28, in violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act which has set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18 years.

Police arrested the girl's father, Misri Khan Buledi, for arranging the marriage of his under-aged daughter. However, the groom and his family, along with the nikah registrar, managed to escape from the spot.

The young girl was shifted to the Women Protection Cell, while her father was sent to jail. The girl and her father were later presented before a local court.

Ending child marriage should be a reality

While there has been a decline in the number of child marriages occurring in Sindh in recent years, the government has been unable to completely prevent all incidents of child marriages in the province despite passing a bill outlawing it.

The custom of child marriage is a major cause of lower literacy rates among girls. Moreover, these early marriages trigger mental, physical and social health issues among the girls. Prenatal, neonatal and maternal health problems are also common in girls who are married before the age of 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2019.