Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], June 16 : Police foiled an attempt to marry off a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man in Charsadda town and arrested the groom, ARY News reported.
According to police, the girl's father, Alam Syed, had agreed to sell her to the old man for PKR 500,000. Soon before the 'Nikkah', the police intervened and arrested the 72-year-old groom identified as Habib Khan, and the 'Nikah Khwan' (a person who solemnizes the marriage). But, the girl's father fled the scene.
However, the case has been registered against the girl's father, the 72-year-old man and the 'Nikkah Khwan' under the Child Marriage Act, according to the ARY News.
Despite laws against child marriage, such incidents continued to occur in Pakistan.
Recently, law enforcement agencies thwarted similar attempts in Rajanpur and Thatta, where young girls were being forced to marry older men. In one case, an 11-year-old girl in Rajanpur, Punjab, was set to marry a 40-year-old man, as per Ary News.
Separately, a young girl was forcibly married to a 50-year-old landlord in Thatta but fortunately, she was saved after the timely action of the police.
On May 6, the police arrested a 70-year-old man for marrying a 13-year-old girl in Swat
A 13-year-old girl was married to a 70-year-old man in Swat by her father. Getting the information, the police swung into action and took the groom and father of the minor girl into custody, the ARY News said.
The Nikkah Khwan and the marriage witnesses were also arrested, while the minor girl was sent to a hospital for a medical examination.
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