October 2, 2025
ISLAMABAD – According to the United Nations’ International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), Pakistan is home to over 19 million child brides, with nearly 1 in 6 young women married before the age of 18 and as many as 4.8m girls married before the age of 15.
“In view of the fact that the alleged detenue has attained puberty and appears to have given free and voluntary consent, she shall be at liberty to reside with the petitioner,” read a verdict issued by Justice Muhammad Azam Khan for a hearing held on July 11.
The verdict was issued on a plea filed by Muhammad Riaz, challenging a June 23 order by an Islamabad-East district judge that denied the recovery of the girl after her family members allegedly “forcibly” took her away from the man’s house on June 21.
According to the order, the birth certificate, which was registered after the marriage, said the girl was aged 15 at the time of solemnisation of her Nikkah on May 30. However, the Nikahnama “vaguely records her age as ‘almost 18 years’”, and the court noted it was not empowered to “conclusively decide the question of age”.
The girl was presented before the court on July 11, when she “unequivocally affirmed that she had contracted marriage with the petitioner of her own choice and expressed her desire to reside with him, explicitly declining to return to her parents”, the order stated.
“It is noteworthy that even during her stay at the Crisis Centre, Islamabad, she has consistently maintained this position.”
Justice Khan observed that the trial court “overlooked” that the petitioner’s counsel had highlighted that there was “great apprehension to the life, honour and dignity of the detenue” if she remained in the custody of the respondents.
Justice Khan noted that while a marriage wherein either or both of the parties were under 18 was “not void under the Shariah, it is nonetheless punishable by law and treated as contrary to public policy, especially where it undermines the minor’s physical, emotional, and educational development”.
The order delved into the legal definitions of “child”, “child marriage” and “child abuse”, and considered various questions, including whether a marriage “valid under the Islamic law/Shariah can be considered void under the statutory law, particularly in light of the Act of 2025”.
The IHC order also mentioned the Islamabad Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 (ICMRA) passed in May, which raised the minimum marriage age for girls from 16 years to 18 years.
However, the judge pointed out that the ICMRA “does not render the marriage itself void” but has been “enacted merely to punish the party contracting, arranging and/or solemnising a marriage with a child”.
“This bifurcation, where the marriage is considered valid under one body of law but criminal under another, creates a legal paradox that risks frustrating the very objective of the statute, which is to act as a deterrent against child marriages and protect minors from premature unions that could harm their physical, emotional, and educational well-being,” Justice Khan wrote.
On the question of whether child marriage would fall within the definition of Sections 375 and 377A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and thereby constitute “rape”, the judge observed that prior precedents do not consider consummation within such a marriage as “rape”. The “element of lawful relationship and consent within marriage fundamentally distinguishes” underage marriages from rape cases, he added.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Shumaila Rafique Awan, cited previous Supreme Court orders from 1970 and 2021 to “assert that the marriage contracted is valid under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (MFLO, 1961), therefore, the petitioner has the right to recover his wife and protect their lawful union”.
Advocate Mirza Irfan Ghazanfar, the counsel for two of the respondents, contended that the earlier order did not “call for any interference” and that the girl was not sui juris (of age) at the time of the Nikkah.
The respondents’ lawyers, as per the order, cited a 2022 IHC ruling to “contend that marriages contracted between a minor and an adult are considered void ab initio, as the same constitute a criminal offence under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929”.
Legal clarity urgently needed to ‘safeguard minors from harm’
Despite constitutional protections, disparities in legal marriage age persist across provinces, with only Sindh and the Islamabad Capital Territory enforcing 18 as the minimum age for girls — a gap that continues to expose millions to early pregnancies, domestic violence, and educational exclusion.
Given the sensitive nature of the case, the court made “certain recommendations in aid of legislative clarity and institutional consistency”.
These included urging the federal government to undertake a legislative review to get rid of “inconsistencies across various statutes qua the determination of age”.
“It is recommended that the federal government adopt a clear statutory stance regarding the marriage contracted involving minors, even if they have attained puberty and show signs of mental maturity. It is necessary to do so in order to protect children of tender age.
“To uphold Constitutional rights and safeguard minors from harm, statutory clarity is urgently needed,” the judgment stressed.
The judge listed various discrepancies in different statutes, including the PPC, Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, Guardian & Wards Act 1890, Majority Act 1875, National Commission on the Rights of Child Act 2017, Juvenile Justice System Act 2018, and the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Act 2018.
Justice Khan strongly recommended that the federal government “launch a sustained and comprehensive awareness campaign to educate citizens, public officials, Nikkah registrars, and community leaders about the harmful consequences and legal implications of child marriages”.
The judge stressed that the district administration and licence-issuing authorities shall ensure that all Nikkah registrars are fully informed about the provisions and penal consequences under the ICMRA, and that they must be trained to “strictly avoid solemnising or registering any marriage involving a minor”.
To prevent the registration of underage marriages, Justice Khan called on the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and relevant marriage registration authorities to integrate the Birth Registration Certificate into their systems, ensuring verification of age before issuing a Marriage Certificate.
The court further directed that “all Guardian Courts, Family Courts, and Courts exercising jurisdiction under Section 491 [of the Code of Criminal Procedure] must engage Child Protection Officers (CPOs) under the Islamabad Child Protection Act 2018 to conduct a statutory welfare assessment”.
“The CPO’s report should be treated as an essential aid in determining custody, care, or marital status of the minor,” the order added, emphasising that the approach would ensure child-centric, evidence-based decision-making in line with Constitutional protections under Articles 9 (security of person), 14 (inviolability of dignity), 25 (equality of citizens), and 35 (protection of family, etc).
The judge also urged that “all courts dealing with cases involving alleged child marriages adopt a participatory, protective and trauma-informed approach, one that treats the minor not merely as a subject of parental or spousal authority, but as a rights-bearing individual whose voice must guide the inquiry and whose welfare must define the outcome”.
In view of the recommendations, the judge ordered that copies of the judgment be sent to the law, human rights and interior ministries, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, the Islamabad chief commissioner, the Nadra director general, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CCI) secretary, as well as all district and sessions judges.