New law sets marriage age at 18, but child marriage continues in South PunjabCEFR B2
21 Sept 2025
Adapted from Mahpara Zulqadar, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Assad Tanoli, Unsplash
Despite the May 2025 Child Marriage Restraint Bill, child marriage continues in parts of South Punjab. A June 2025 interview with 14-year-old Zunaira in Behal, District Layyah, highlighted the problem: she wants to be a science teacher, but her family arranged her marriage to a man twice her age and her mother said, "We don't have a choice." Local actors have sometimes delayed weddings, and community voices, such as Imam Ali Noor, have argued that "Islam doesn’t support forced or early marriage" and that nikah without consent is invalid.
The new law sets the legal marriage age at 18 for all genders, adds fines and imprisonment for those who arrange or solemnize underage marriages, and gives local authorities power to stop such unions. Political reactions were mixed: the PPP welcomed the law, while JUI-F opposed it and Maulana Fazlur Rehman called the legislation "contrary to, and trampling, the Quran and Sunnah," announcing nationwide protest rallies.
Historical rules have varied. The 1929 Child Marriage Restraint Act set minimum ages at 14 for girls and 18 for boys. After the 18th Amendment in 2010 provinces made their own laws: Sindh raised the minimum age for girls to 18 in 2013, while Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan largely kept 16.
Multiple studies document harms and drivers. UNICEF reports 29 percent of girls marry before 18 and 4 percent before 15; Save the Children recorded an 18 percent rise in child marriages after the 2022 floods. UNESCO finds girls who marry before 18 are 60 percent more likely to drop out of school, and WHO data shows girls under 18 are 2–5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than women in their twenties. Other evidence notes weak birth registration, informal nikah ceremonies outside civil records, and poverty as key causes.
Policy steps aim to close the gap between law and practice. In May 2025 NADRA launched a digital birth and death registration system at hospitals nationwide. A 2024 Lahore High Court ruling warned registrars that breach of guidelines may bring legal action. NGOs and programs such as PODA registrar training and the Ehsaas Conditional Cash Transfer work on cleric training, school health education, and financial support to help delay marriage and keep girls in school.
Difficult words
- arrange — plan or organize a marriage for someonearranged
- consent — permission or agreement to an action
- solemnize — perform a formal ceremony, especially marriage
- nikah — Islamic marriage contract or religious ceremony
- imprisonment — time in prison given as punishment
- registrar — official who records births, deaths and documentsregistrars
- birth registration — official record of a child's details with government
- conditional cash transfer — money given to families only if they meet conditions
- drop out — leave school before completing education
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- What challenges might prevent the new law from stopping child marriages in some communities? Give two reasons from the article.
- How can religious leaders and community voices help reduce underage or forced marriages, according to the passages in the text?
- Do you think digital birth registration and registrar training can change marriage practices? Why or why not, using evidence from the article.
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