Hawzah News Agency – Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Babar Sattar has issued a verdict barring girls under the age of 18 to be married, even of their own free will. The ruling also prohibits parents from marrying off girls aged less than 18 years.

The IHC further directed the cabinet division to place the matter pertaining to the Muslim Family Law Ordinance before the parliament while ordering 16-year-old Savera Falak Sher to be returned to her mother. A case was registered by the mother in May of last year reporting that her daughter had been abducted and forcibly married. Later, the girl had told the court that she had married of her own free will.

The verdict specifies that any child below the age of 18 will be prohibited from marrying. The court did not rule on the age of puberty, however.

The IHC verdict clarifies the question of underage marriage. In 2019, the Senate passed an amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2018. The amendments imposed a fine of Rs.200,000 and three years of punishment for facilitators of child marriage. The bill was introduced by Senator Sherry Rehman.

The Muslim Family Law Ordinances of 1961 had stipulated that the minimum age of marriage was 18 years old for boys and 16 years old for girls. The high prevalence of early marriages in Pakistan has been attributed to poverty, social norms, traditions and customs, and religious misperceptions.