LAHORE: A new ordinance promulgated by Punjab Governor Saleem Haider Khan declared child marriage a non-bailable offence in the province and set 18 years as the minimum legal age of marriage for both males and females, eliminating the previous gender-based distinctions.
Up until now, then minimum legal age for marriage in Punjab was 18 years for men and 16 years for women under the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.
This has changed with the promulgation of the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, under which offenders could face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to Rs1 million.
The law comes into effect immediately across the province and was promulgated under Article 128(1) of the Constitution as the Punjab Assembly is not in session.
Under the new law, nikah registrars have been barred from registering child marriages and could face imprisonment of up to one year and fine of Rs100,000 in case of violations.
Similarly, adults contracting marriage with a child will face rigorous imprisonment of up to three years but not less than two years, as well as a fine of up to Rs500,000.
The ordinance also states: “Any form of cohabitation, before attainning the age of 18 years, with or withour consent, resulting from a child marriage shall be child abuse under the ordinnace.
“Any person who induces, forces, persuades, entices or coerces any child bride or child groom to engage in child abuse or commits child abuse shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years but shall not be less than five years and with a fine which shall not be less than Rs1m.”
More to follow
