Child Nuptials Busted in Pakistan

(Karachi, Pakistan) Believed to be the first time an in-progress wedding ceremony has been broken up, police arrested two people attempting to marry a girl, 4, to a boy, 7.


Bride, father of groom, Groom
The father of the groom and the presiding cleric were taken into custody. The father of the bride escaped.

Child marriages are illegal in Pakistan.

Video footage of the marriage, shot by some television teams that accompanied the police, show the two children in bride and groom ceremonial outfits.

They started crying when the police raided the scene.

Mohammad Ismail, the father of the groom, told the media that he worked in Saudi Arabia and was not aware that Pakistani laws prohibited child marriages.

He said that he had agreed to the wedding following advice from family elders that it would put an end to an old feud his family had with the family of the bride.

The cleric who was called to supervise and record the exchange of wedding vows by the couple and to record the witnesses, told the media he did not know that he was being invited to a child marriage.

However, police say they have recovered the marriage certificate from the scene which had been duly filled in by the cleric - except for the age columns for the bride and the groom.

It's reported that the father of the bride received 500,000 rupees (about $6,100) to marry off his daughter.

Reportedly, the maximum possible punishment for the parents is one month in jail and a $10 fine.

Tip: Kevin S.