Underage marriage case: Arzoo is 14-15 years of age, SHC told

Sindh High Court on Monday ordered authorities to settle Arzoo at the shelter home, Geo News reported.

A two-member bench comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito heard the case pertaining to abduction, forced conversion and marriage of the minor to a 44-yar-old man in Karachi.

During the hearing, the medical board constituted by the government on court orders to determine Arzoo’s age presented its report. The medical report estimated her to be between 14 to 15 years of age.

The investigation officer (IO) informed the bench that the case was now registered under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013.

When the court asked Arzoo if she was forced to convert to Islam, she said replied in negative. The girl was then asked if she wanted to return to her parents. “I want to live with my ‘husband’,” she told the high court.

The bench directed authorities to move Arzoo to a shelter home and allow only those she wanted to see meet her.

The hearing has been adjourned till November 23.

Read more: SHC orders formation of medical board to determine Arzoo's age

Sindh Child Marriage Restrain Act 2013

In 2014, the Sindh assembly unanimously adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which raised the legal minimum age of marriage for boys and girls to 18 years. 

It further made the act a punishable offence. 

A man, above 18 years, who contracts a child marriage, could now be imprisoned for three years. Men who solemnised an under-age marriage can also be locked up for two to three years.

Even the parents or guardians, who authorised the marriage, can be prosecuted for failing to prevent it.