Bill against child marriages ready, FSC told

The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) was informed on Tuesday that a draft bill to prevent child marriages in Balochistan had been prepared and would be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Syed Muhammad Anwar and Justice Khadim Hussain took up the matter regarding forced marriage of a five-year-old girl in Khuzdar district of Balochistan.

The lawyer for the Balochistan government apprised the bench that the draft had been prepared on the instructions of the FSC. He said that the draft of the bill titled ‘The Balochistan Child Marriages Prohibition Act, 2021’ had been prepared in consultation with the provincial Commission on Status of Women and the Department of Social Welfare.

The bill would soon be tabled in the provincial assembly, he added. The advocates general of all the four provinces attended the hearing of the case