A senior member of the Pakistani parliament, Salahuddin Ayubi, married a 14-year-old girl from Balochistan, reports said on February 23. The case has sparked a row, since marriage with a minor girl aged below 16 is in violation of domestic law.
Ayubi, a leader of the conservative Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), represents the Kila Abdullah constituency of Balochistan in the Pakistan National Assembly. His nikah – marriage under Islamic law – was solemnised in Chitral town of the restive province, Pakistani media reported.
Tahafuz-e-Haqooq-e-Chitral, a local NGO, raised the issue after being informed about the marriage of the underage girl with Ayubi, who is reportedly in his late 50s.
Pir Mukhtar Nabi, who heads the group, said they would file a writ petition before the court to nullify the marriage and initiate penal action against the lawmaker.
Lower Chitral DPO Sonia Shimroz Khan told the local media that an investigation has been launched into the case. While the nikah has been solemnised, a “proper marriage function” was yet to be held, Pak Observer reported.
The girl’s father has assured the police that he would not send her daughter into a relationship of marriage till she attains the age of 16. The local police station would be informed before conducting a “proper marriage ceremony”, he said, according to Bol News.
As per the law which bars child marriage in Pakistan, a man aged above 18, if convicted of marrying a girl aged below 16, would be sentenced to one-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 1,000 fine, or both. The Imran Khan government intends to raise the penalty to Rs 20,000 fine and up to three years of jail.
