Suspect arrested for another child marriage in Sheikhupura

Punjab Police arrested a suspect for another child marriage of a five-year-old girl to a thirteen-year-old boy in Kot Nazir, Sheikhupura. According to police, they caught the suspect during a raid.

They are conducting several raids to catch the other suspects involved in this child marriage. It is significant to note that getting married before sixteen years is forbidden in Punjab.

According to a police spokesperson, they have filed an FIR under the Child Marriage Act on behalf of the assistant sub-inspector of Sadar Muredke police station.

*Copy of registered FIR for reported child marriage case*

The FIR suggested that the children’s relatives forced them into marriage. Hence, the offenders left as soon as they spotted the police approaching. The child’s grandfather, Yousaf, reportedly acknowledged this crime. He and his son, Muzammil Abbas, were forcing their grandchild into marriage.

However, the underage girl’s father, Imran, and her grandfathers, Amjad Bashir, and Akram Suleman, were all present during the illegal wedding ceremony. The suspect, Arshad made all the arrangements for this wedding while another suspect, Umar Hayat, officiated nikah.

According to the registered FIR, the mentioned suspects broke the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2015′ by forcing the children to get married. It is unclear whom police arrested out of the two suspects, including Arshad and Umar.

*Suspect involved in underage marriage in Sheikhupura arrested*

Click here to read the updates on Punjab’s proposed bill to ban marriage under 18 age with heavy fines

However, it is not the first time that police arrested a suspect involved in another child marriage in Punjab. Child marriages are common in Punjab and also in other provinces of Pakistan.

Even the Punjab government changed the Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance of 1971 and passed the Punjab Marriage Restraint Act 2015. This law kept the legal age of marriage at 16. It made severe punishments for violations, including fines and jail time.

Moreover, a new child marriage bill Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2024 is under legislation that prohibits weddings before eighteen years. Any offender may face two to three years imprisonment and one lakh rupees fine.