'My wife is 19, not 12,' stuntman Sultan Golden claims amidst child marriage controversy

CHITRAL: Pakistani stuntman and world record holder Sultan Mohammad Golden on Tuesday dismissed reports that he contracted a child marriage, insisting that his 'wife' is 19 years old and not 12 as it is being asserted.

According to a news report published in The News on Wednesday, Golden, 60, had contracted marriage in July this year with a girl identified as SS*. However, he was accused of participating in an illegal child marriage after it was revealed that she was underage.

On the other hand, Golden, a renowned stuntman, accused the district administration of not paying him Rs8.5 million he claimed he was due for performing at the Shandur festival in 2019.

He claimed that when he pressed the district administration to pay him his dues, they had created the child marriage controversy in order to put pressure on him.

Girl's father concealed age, fraudulently obtained CNIC 

Sultan Golden's 'nikkah' with the girl had been reported to the district administration by a civil society organisation on the grounds that she was believed to be a minor.

It was alleged that the father of the girl had concealed her school certificate and vaccination card and fraudulently obtained a birth certificate from the Sheshi Koh village council to show her age as above 18, The News reported.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had issued her a computerised national identity card (CNIC) on the basis of the birth certificate.

After receiving the complaint, the district administration had ordered a probe to confirm the age of the girl.

The officials looked at vaccination cards and the girl's school certificate to determine her age, where they found her date of birth mentioned as April 10, 2008. A medical board was also constituted to determine the age of the girl. 

The inquiry confirmed that the girl was, indeed, 12 years of age and a minor.

After recording its findings, the district administration had asked NADRA last month to proceed against Sultan Golden and the girl's father, Azizur Rahman, under the NADRA Ordinance 2000 for fraudulently obtaining a CNIC and for concealing the age of the child as per her school record.

*Name withheld to protect the minor's identity.