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| Monday, 2 February 2004 |
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Court moves to rescue girl, 7, in forced marriage QUETTA, Pakistan, Sunday (AFP) A Pakistani court has intervened to save a seven-year-old girl who was given to a 40-year-old man to marry to settle a dispute between families, police said Saturday. The bizarre bargain took place last week in the remote town of Nushki in Chaghi district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, police said. After seeing reports about the case, the chief judge of the provincial high court, Raja Fayyaz, ordered the police Friday to recover the girl, named Aziza, and arrest all those involved, they said. Aziza's parents had agreed to hand over their daughter to marry into a another family as part settlement of a dispute over the elopement three months ago of Aziza's brother with a girl from the other family, police said. The seven-year-old visited the home of her would-be-husband, Pir Mohammad, for a wedding ceremony but he had not allowed her to return, as agreed, her parents alleged in media reports. The agreement had stated that she was to stay with her parents until she attained an age suitable for consummation of the marriage, they said. Pakistani law bans child marriage or trading of women to settle disputes but such incidents have been frequently reported from rural areas where customs and tribal traditions still prevail. |
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