Sir: Forced marriage is a term used to describe marriage in which one or both of the parties are married without his or her consent or against his or her will. The practice of forced marriage is quite common amongst the poor in Pakistan. In most but not all forced marriages, the female (rather than male) is the involuntary spouse.
The UN views forced marriage as a form of human rights abuse, since it violates the principle of freedom of the individual. Marrying anyone without one’s consent is illegal in Islamic Shariah and unacceptable in Pakistani law as well.
Forced marriage is prevalent in 30 percent of our urban areas, whereas in rural dwellings this ratio is about 99 percent. In the rural areas, parents torture their daughters and if by some means these girls manage to elope, either they are killed, if caught, in the name of honour or their lives are made miserable by their families. Lately we have seen innumerable cases where girls married boys of their choice and ended up seeking justice from the courts. Even the courts’ verdicts are not respected and in a number of cases, the couple is killed.
Human Right Awareness demands of the government and international and national NGOs to end forced marriages from Pakistan by implementation of concrete steps. Our government should look into this matter and make strict laws to prevent this illegal practice.
YUMNA NAFEES ALI
Karachi