Pakistani Police Raid Marriage of 5-Year-Old Girl to 18-Year-Old

Chalk it up to supreme ignorance and a religion whose prophet married an underage girl and you have people pawning off their own pre-pubescent daughters, in some cases no older than a toddler.

In Peshawar, Pakistan police raided the wedding of 5-year-old Ajwa to 18-year-old Amir Khan.

“They were informed that marriage of underage girls is illegal and they were shocked,” a policeman, who was part of the raid, told The Express Tribune. “They said we’re illiterate and do not know about the law.” The girl’s parents have been arrested.   [snip]

While the police arrested only the girl’s parents and not the boy’s, DSP Riazul Islam said that an FIR will be registered against not just the girl’s but the boy himself and his parents as well for attempting to marry an underage girl.

The marriage of underage boys and girls is a crime under the Marriage Restrict Act of 1929 as well as against the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child, said Imran Takkar, the operations manager at NGO the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Pakistan has ratified and signed the UN charter.

“Under the marriage act, no girl below the age of 16 can be married off. The UN convention says that any boy or girl below the age of 18 is a child,” Takkar explained.

5 years old? Whether they are just claiming ignorance of the law, or actually had no clue, is debatable. What isn't debatable is their stupidity.

18% of Young Asian Brits Support 'Honor' Based Violence

A poll sponsored by the BBC found that of the 500 young Asian Brits surveyed, 18% (1 in 5) think it's okay to beat the heck out of women if they've 'dishonored' their families. Killing them, not so much. Only 3% justified 'honor killings' for either

disobeying a father, rejecting a prearranged marriage, or marrying someone unacceptable by the family.

Not surprisingly, 6 percent of those were men as opposed to 1 percent of women.

A great majority of the 16 to 34-year-olds polled believe that 'honor' (as if violence is honorable) is a very important element in family life.  75% of those were men versus 63% of women. 

Violence against women is a huge global problem, but in a culture that devalues women and places more importance on 'honor' it becomes monumental.  And although Muslims aren't the only ones who participate in 'honor killings' and violence against women, it doesn't help matters that the Quran actually promotes wife beating for disobedience.

 Karma Nirvana,

...a charity that supports victims and survivors of honor based violence, reported on its Website that it receives “on average approximately 5,000 calls a year on our national helpline supporting all victims and survivors of forced marriage and honor based abuse.”

Jasvinder Sanghera, of the Karma Nirvana, fled her parent’s home when they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage at the age of 14.

She urged Asian community leaders in Britain to speak against the honor code, also known as “Izzat” in Urdu language.

“I’ve yet to see community leaders, religious leaders, politicians; Asian councilors give real leadership on this. They don’t because they know it makes them unpopular,” Sanghera told the BBC.

According to a spokesperson for the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organization (IKWRO), last year in the U.K. there were over 2,800  cases of  "‘honor’ based violence" reported to the police.

“These figures demonstrate that ‘honor’ based violence is not a minor problem but a very serious issue which affects thousands of people each year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help,”

Many feel that 'forced marriage' is a major factor in honor based violence, so in an effort to thwart violence against young women who refuse to marry men that their families match them up with, Brit authorities are considering criminalizing it.

The Home Office has launched a campaign seeking public opinion on creating a specific criminal offence for forced marriages and how it should be formulated.

I sincerely doubt anything will come of it. Arranged marriages are a long standing tradition for many Asians, and laws won't prevent them from taking place, or the violence against a daughter/sister who refuses to comply.