High Court Verdict Crackdown Ordered on Underage Marriages After Teen’s Legal Battle
Justice Anwarul Haq of the Lahore High Court issued the verdict on a petition filed by Azmat Bibi, the mother of the 14-year-old girl.
The court ruled that despite clear instructions from the High Court to prevent child marriages, Nikah Khwans and registrars continue to conduct such marriages without verifying the age of the bride.
The court ordered relevant authorities to take strict action against Nikah Khwans and registrars who violate court orders and conduct underage girls’ marriages.
Azmat Bibi had approached the High Court seeking recovery of her 14-year-old daughter, who was married off without her consent.
Last year, an incident of an underage girl came into the limelight when a teenage girl, Dua Zehra, went missing from her house in Karachi and later surfaced and announced marrying Zaheer in Lahore.
Ahmed and others were booked by the police for kidnapping an underage girl from Karachi. According to the police, Ahmed kidnapped the underage girl in the Al-Falah Colony area with abetment of other co-accused and married her in Lahore.
In July, the Lahore court allowed Dua to live with her husband. The Model Town court, while issuing a verdict on the police’s plea to send the girl (14-year-old according to her father’s claim and 18 years as per her own) to Dar-ul-Aman, rejected the police request and allowed Dua Zehra to live with her husband Zaheer Ahmed.
She was then produced before SHC where the court ordered a medical examination of the girl. The medical examiner stated that she is aged between 16 and 17 years.
She was then shifted to a shelter home on SHC orders.
Later, the Sindh High Court (SHC) handed over Karachi’s teenage girl to her parents after the teenager expressed her wish to go with her parents before the court.
