Lahore, May 14 (PTI) A 50-year-old man was arrested for marrying a 13-year-old girl under a newly enacted law that declared underage marriage a non-bailable offence in Pakistan's Punjab province, an official said on Thursday.
The police registered an FIR under the new law in Daska, some 150 kms from Lahore, on Wednesday.
According to police, Lubna Shahzadi married her underage daughter off to Muhammad Afzal Malang against her will on May 9.
Police booked the husband and mother of the girl.
A case has also been filed against the nikah khawan (who registered the marriage).
The provincial government last month changed the 97-year-old law by setting 18 years as the minimum legal age for marriage for girls.
Previously, the minimum legal age for marriage in Punjab, a province of 130 million people, was 16 years for girls.
According to the new law - Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 -- marriage below the age of 18 for both males and females is a non-bailable and cognisable offence.
Adults marrying a female child (under 18) will face up to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of up to PKR 500,000.
"Parents or guardians who facilitate, promote, or fail to prevent child marriage face up to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fines up to PKR 500,000. Nikah Registrars (Marriage registrars) who facilitate or register such marriages face up to one year in prison and a fine of PKR 100,000."
The law further says cohabitation resulting from child marriage is classified as child abuse, carrying up to years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of PKR 1 million.