A petition has been filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) seeking an increase in the minimum marriage age for girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The petition requests raising the legal age from 16 to 18 years.
The petition was filed by Lina Qamar War Maham Nafis through Advocate Imran Khan. It names the federal and provincial governments among the respondents. The Secretary of Law and other relevant authorities have also been included.
The petitioner has highlighted differences in the legal marriage age across Pakistan. According to the petition, the minimum age for girls is 18 in several other parts of the country. However, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa still allows girls to marry at 16 under the existing law.
The petition states that Islamabad, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan amended their respective laws after the 18th Constitutional Amendment. These changes raised the minimum marriage age for girls to 18. However, the relevant law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has not been amended.
The petitioner has argued that this difference needs legal attention. The petition also links underage marriages to various family-related problems. It maintains that increasing the minimum age could address concerns associated with early marriages.
The case asks the high court to issue directions to the relevant authorities. It specifically seeks an increase in the minimum legal marriage age for girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The requested change would bring the provincial limit from 16 to 18 years.
The petition has placed the issue before the Peshawar High Court. The court will consider the legal arguments and the relief requested by the petitioner. The filing itself does not mean that the existing law has changed.
If the requested relief is granted, the relevant authorities would need to take steps to implement the change. Until then, the existing legal position in the province remains unchanged.
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The petition has brought renewed attention to differences in marriage laws across Pakistan. Its outcome could determine whether the minimum marriage age for girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is raised to 18 years.
