Child Marriages in Pakistan

Imagine you are getting ready for the wedding. It has taken four days to prepare for the great event. The food is ready, the music is playing, the flowers have been delivered, the guests have been greeted, the parents are arranged in their special areas, the clergyman is in place, and all the prescribed rituals and customs have been completed, each in its own time and place. Everything has been set up just as decreed and all the business of arranging this marriage has been taken care of. Just as the wedding service begins, there is a loud clanging and shouting voices at the front door. "What has happened? Who dares to interrupt this sacred moment?" You cry out in fear and indignation.

Into the room come several police officers, telling everyone to stay in their places as they arrest the parents of the bride and groom, along with the clergyman and others participating in the wedding itself. Even the bride with tears running down her face and the groom are taken into custody and spirited away to another room by an officer. The place is now a shambles, the food wasted, the guests white-faced, and great embarrassment faces everyone.

Across the city, there is almost a repeat of what happened here. The only difference is that there are four brides and four grooms in a multiple wedding ceremony. Again, the police storm in, arresting the parents of the brides, the grooms themselves, and the cleric, and effectively stopping the marriages before two of the ceremonies are completed.

There are just a few of recent cases, but the fact is, they do happen. What caused this? Why would the police stop a wedding, something revered and special to all involved? In one case, the bride was 4 years old and her groom was much older - by two years at the age of seven. They were being married to settle an eight-year dispute between the families. In the other marriage ceremony, the grooms were elderly men, one having reached the exalted age of 80. Unfortunately, each of the brides were under 18, including one little girl who was 5 years old. The marriages were agreed to in order to settle a crime against one family where two men were murdered.

The country is Pakistan where traditional law allows young children to be married to each other or to an older partner, traditionally very much older to appease for a crime against the groom's family, and sometimes, the bride's family. Blood money is frequently paid for the death of a family member who was killed in a previous altercation. Marriages are often arranged to settle disputes, pay off debts, or join families together for financial stability.

Amazingly, a Pakistan Human Rights Commission official said the penalty for allowing this to happen is often a paltry 30 days in jail and an approximate $10 -15 dollar fine for the parents. In the case where a four year old was given in marriage to a 45-year old man, the man was obliged to pay a fine of $2500. According to the Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, marriage can take place if the boy is 18 and the girl 16. In cases where a forced (inability to give consent) arranged marriage has been organized and registered between children under the age of 18, even if the parents are fined and imprisoned, the marriage itself is not invalidated. Marital rape is not a punishable crime if the girl is over the age of 12.

Today, Pakistani law states that marriage cannot take place before the age of 18 and child marriages are strictly prohibited. Some Muslim scholars say a marriage can take place after puberty has been reached. Even so, statistics from 2007 indicate that marriages in Pakistan are as high as 32% of all marriages within the country. However, there is a general consensus that child marriages may be outdated by the year 2010, though many believe the marriages will continue if not caught, especially in rural areas.

Sources:

Pakistani Police Arrest Cleric Who Presided Over Kids' Wedding

Outcry over offer of young girls to settle blood debt

Committee on the Rights of the Child, 34th session - Geneva, September 2003

Child marriages ratio stands at 32 per cent in Pakistan, 9/3/2007