Arzoo case: SHC orders minor girl be settled at shelter home

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday ordered that Arzoo, a minor girl allegedly abducted, forced to change her religion, and married to a middle-aged man, be settled at a shelter home.

In the latest development of the underage marriage case, a two-member bench comprising Justices KK Agha and Amjad Ali Sahito was told that Arzoo's age was 14-15 years of age, according to a report presented by a medical board constituted by the government on court orders.

When the court asked Arzoo if she had been forced to convert to Islam, she replied in negative. The minor girl was then asked if she wished to return to her parents.

"I want to live with my 'husband'," she said, referring to the 44-year-old man who married her in Karachi.

Consequently, the SHC bench directed authorities to move Arzoo to a shelter home and allow only those she wanted to see.

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

The hearing has been adjourned till November 23.

Child marriage laws in Sindh

Back in 2014, the Sindh Assembly had unanimously adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which raised the legal minimum age of marriage for boys and girls to 18 years, making the a punishable offence.

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

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