Divorce 12-year-old girl, court orders 48-year-old

District and Sessions Judge Gujranwala on Saturday ordered that an FIR be registered against the husband and nikah khawan after the marriage of a 12-year-old girl’s marriage to 48-year-old man.
Kiran Shahzad, 12, was married to Muhammad Saleem, 48, with the consent of her parents (Arshad and Naseem bibi) three months ago on a cash deal and a two-marla plot in Yousaf pura in Aroop precincts.
Muhammad Saleem gave Rs 30,000 in cash and promised to arrange proper accommodation for the family if they married their minor child with him. The parents agreed to the condition and promised to let Kiran go to his home two years after the marriage but 20 days ago Muhammad Saleem took Kiran home forcefully. Kiran’s father Arshad reported the matter in Aroop police station and demanded the recovery of his child. On Saturday, police recovered the child through bailiff on the orders of session court judge Rasheed Qamar. The court ordered police to arrest all those in the crime, including the Nikah khawan, Nikah Registrar, the eye witnesses along with the parents and Muhammad Saleem. The girl accompanied her parents to court, where the Sessions Judge ordered Saleem to divorce Kiran immediately.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Kiran’s father Arshad said we married our child on the condition that she will go to her in-laws once she reaches maturity but Saleem took her forcefully. He said that Saleem began to torture Kiran and they had no option but to file a police ase. He said, “We married Kiran to seek a better future for both ourselves and her.. He said, “I am a mason and cannot afford to arrange for dowry so we considered this option better for all of us but we were wrong and have paid the price for it.”