ISLAMABAD – Police in northwestern Khyber Pahtunkhwa are investigating a complaint against a Pakistani lawmaker who reportedly married a 14-year old girl from Chitral.
The police probe comes after it received application from an NGO working for the welfare of the women in Chitral against Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi, who was elected to National Assembly from constituency NA-263 (Kila Abdullah) as a leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F).
In an application, Anjuman Dawat-o-Azeemat has requested the police to conduct inquiry into whether the girl had attained the marriageable age, and if not, take action against all those responsible under the Prevention of Child Marriage Act.
Reports in local media suggest the girl belongs to Daroosh area of Chitral and was currently out of the district.
The DAWN reported the girl was a student of Government Girls High School, Jughoor, where her date of birth had been recorded as Oct 28, 2006, which showed that she had not attained the age of marriage.
According to the police, the girl’s Nikkah was solemnized out of Chitral and the matter was still under investigation.
The law does not allow marriage with the girls below 16 years of age, and if the parents showed consent for under-age girls’ marriages they would also be punished under the law.
Lower Chitral DPO Sonia Shimroz Khan said that the girl’s father had denied the girl’s marriage and had agreed in writing that he would ask the local police before a “proper marriage ceremony”.
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