In Pakistan, father detained over alleged marriage of three-year-old to 60-year-old — Jerusalem Post
In the Pakistani border city of Chaman, police arrested the father of a three-year-old girl after receiving information about her allegedly arranged marriage to a 60-year-old man for 2.5 million Pakistani rupees — about $9,000. A man named Salah Uddin, whom law enforcement officers identify as the alleged groom, is being sought. This was reported by the Jerusalem Post, citing The Media Line.
According to police, at the time law enforcement intervened, the agreement existed only on paper because the full amount had not been paid. The girl and her mother were placed under police protection. A case was registered on behalf of the state after information about the incident spread on social media.
Investigation into sister's death
Law enforcement officers are also examining a possible connection between this case and the death of the child's older sister, Shukria Bibi, about two weeks earlier in Kuchlak near Quetta. According to police, the father had previously arranged Shukria's marriage when she was 13 to Kamran, Salah Uddin's son, in exchange for 1.5 million rupees.
Quetta police arrested Kamran on suspicion of murdering his wife. According to investigators, he told them that he struck Shukria with an iron rod after becoming angry because she looked outside through a doorway opening. Investigators are determining whether a conflict between the families was connected to her death.
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Walwar and the law
Walwar is a Pashtun word for money paid by the groom or his family to the bride's family. In a conversation with a local blogger, the girls' father said that he agreed to the arrangement involving his younger daughter because of poverty and a desire to buy housing. He also claimed that his older daughter had suffered violence after the marriage and that her father-in-law had pressured him to give up another underage daughter.
The Balochistan Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 sets the minimum age for marriage at 18. An adult man who enters into a child marriage faces two to three years in prison and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 rupees. Penalties may also be imposed on people who conduct, encourage, or facilitate such a marriage.
UNICEF estimates that about 20.5 million girls and women in Pakistan married before the age of 18, including about 5 million before the age of 15. Data from 2018 show that in Balochistan, the share of young women who married before 18 was 21.6%.
