Karachi: Police halted marriage of a 10 year old girl, who was forced to wed a 14 year old boy to end a dispute between two families.
After the girl’s brother got accused of killing his wife, local village elders ordered to marry off his 10 year sister to a 14 year old boy.
Correspondents say “vani” marriages, where a woman is ordered to marry to settle the crime of a relative, are illegal but remain common in Pakistan.
Police say they have arrested four village elders over the case.
The vani marriage was due to take place in Punjab’s Rahimyar Khan district on Friday, but was stopped after police raided the village.
The girl’s brother was accused of killing his wife after he suspected her of an affair. He was arrested and is currently in jail. Following which the panchayat ordered that the 10-year-old girl should marry the 14-year-old boy, who was a relative of the victim, in order to settle the dispute.
Under Pakistani law, relatives of a murder victim have the right to pardon the perpetrator in return for blood money or a compromise, the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports.