August 9, 2025
By Rana Malhi
ISLAMABAD
A Karachi Sessions’ court in Pakistan’s has sentenced a man to two years in prison for marrying a minor girl, concluding that the prosecution successfully established the offence under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, while failing to prove the charge of kidnapping.
Mother filed complaint
According to the case record, the proceedings originated from a complaint filed by the mother of a teenage girl who reported that her daughter had gone missing from their home on January 16 in Gulshan e Iqbal, Karachi. She alleged that the accused, Azhar Ali, who worked as a security guard in the same neighbourhood, had lured her daughter away. Three days later, the girl was traced and recovered during a police raid, and it was discovered that the two had contracted marriage in Naushahro Feroze city of Sindh province.
The police booked Azhar Ali under Section 3 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, read with Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The nikah khwan who solemnized the marriage and other witnesses named in the case remained absconding during the trial.
During the trial, the prosecution examined multiple witnesses, including the complainant, the investigating officer, and the medico-legal officer. The mother testified to the circumstances under which her daughter went missing and the subsequent discovery of her marriage. She stated that her daughter was 16 years old at the time and produced supporting documents to establish her age.
The medico-legal officer informed the court that the girl’s physical and dental examination indicated an age range between 15 and 16 years. The court noted that this medical evidence was consistent with the documents relied upon by the prosecution.
Girl gives statement
The girl, when called to testify, stated that she had willingly accompanied the accused to Naushahro Feroze in a rented car and stayed there for three days before contracting marriage. She also described the police raid that led to their recovery and confirmed that she had given a statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code before a magistrate.
The defence argued that the FIR mentioned the girl’s age as 17 years and pointed to inconsistencies between her school and NADRA records. It was contended that she had married of her own free will and that no element of coercion was present.
After reviewing the evidence, Judicial Magistrate (East) Noor Ahmed Chandio found that the material on record clearly established that the girl was under 18 years of age at the time of the marriage. The court observed that, under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, both the person contracting the marriage and those involved in its solemnisation are culpable when the bride or groom is below the legal age.
The judgment made reference to Rule 3 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Rules, 2016, which requires the nikah khawan to sign an affidavit confirming that both parties are over 18 years of age and to attach the affidavit with the nikahnama. The court remarked that in this case the nikah khawan, who was among the absconding accused, had not performed this legal requirement and had failed to verify the girl’s age.
Regarding the charge under Section 363 of the PPC, the court noted that neither the prosecution nor the complainant’s counsel had clearly established the circumstances necessary to prove the offence of kidnapping. The judgment stated that the arguments advanced under this section were insufficient and did not meet the legal threshold for conviction.
Consequently, Azhar Ali was convicted under Section 3 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act and sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000, with an additional term of imprisonment in case of default. He was acquitted of the kidnapping charge under Section 363 PPC.
The complainant’s counsel indicated in court that an appeal would be filed challenging the acquittal under the kidnapping charge, maintaining that the trial court had not applied the law correctly in that regard.
Speaking to Voicepk, Advocate Daniyal Hussain, counsel for the complainant, discussed the judgment and its implications under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act and related laws. He said the high court had directed that the trial be completed within 90 days, but the trial court concluded it in seven months. The charges included both child marriage and kidnapping, yet the accused was acquitted of kidnapping.
The court, he noted, did not provide any reason for this decision, despite the fact that the prosecution had presented several Supreme Court and high court precedents showing how kidnapping is established in such cases. “We are now filing an appeal, asserting that kidnapping was also proven and should have been part of the conviction,” he said.