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In a recent incident, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police saved a minor girl from getting married off to a 72-year-old man.
As per a report by ARY News, a 12-year-old girl who was forced by her father to marry an elderly man was saved as the police intervened soon before the 'Nikkah'.
The police said that the girl's father Alam Syed had agreed to 'sell' his daughter to the man for Rs 50,00,000. The girl was rescued as the police reached before the wedding could take place. The groom, identified as Habib Khan, along with the Nikah Khwan (the person who solemnises a marriage), were arrested by the police.
Upon police's intervention, the girl's father fled the scene. As per the publication, a case has been registered against father, groom and Nikah Khwan under the Child marriage Act.
This is not the first case in Pakistan where minor girls were being forced to marry old men. ARY News reported about one similar case in Rajanpur, Punjab where an 11-year-old girl was forced to marry a 40-year-old man.
Similarly, in two separate incidents that took place in Thatta and Swat, a young girl was married to a 50-year-old landlord; and in Swat, a 13-year-old girl was saved from getting married to a 70-year-old man. The girl was however rescued in time and the father as well as the groom were arrested.