In the pipeline: Government doing spadework for child marriage legislation

CPWC prepares draft; similar bill was rejected by lawmakers in 2013.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is all set to table a child marriage restraint bill in the provincial legislature. The Child Protection and Welfare Commission (CPWC) has been tasked with preparing the preliminary draft and suggesting punishments for those who violate the law.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, CPWC Programme Manager Ejaz Khan said the draft will be forwarded to the law department for consideration. “At the moment, the bill is in the pipeline and we wish to take all stakeholders on board before presenting it in the legislature,” he said, adding a similar draft presented in the K-P Assembly two years back succumbed to disagreements.

The programme manager said minimum punishment will be raised to two years in prison and Rs45,000 in fine, adding the fine will be raised to Rs0.5 million for severe cases.

Blue Veins Programme Coordinator Qamar Naseem said different Muslim countries have fixed the minimum marriageable age, mentioning Bahrain where the bar is set at 21. “We should bring the minimum age to 18 years,” he proposed. Naseem said the Sindh and Punjab governments have already taken the lead in this regard and it is high time the K-P government cracks down on child marriages.

Social activist Luqman Afridi said the reasons for child marriages are deep-seated in irrational customs. He said masses need to be made aware of the societal and personal consequences of child marriages.

Civil society representatives urged the government to make members of Alliance to End Child Marriages, religious leaders and educationists part of the working group and consider their recommendations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.