[DAWN] Police raided a marriage ceremony in Sindh's Umerkot district late Monday night, foiling a bid to marry off a minor girl with a 33-year-old man.
A police team headed by Station House Officer (SHO) Vijay Khatri recovered the 11-year-old girl from the wedding ceremony in Umerkot's Bakhtawar Colony where she was due to marry Ahmed Arisar, a man thrice her age.
Police took the minor girl into custody and tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
the groom, while others present at the scene managed to flee.
The groom's mother, who belonged to Rantnor village of Thar, told the police that her family had "purchased the girl" by paying Rs130,000 to the girl's father, Qadir Bux.
| That's US$1,234.17. Pakistani rupees aren't worth much nowadays. Were the sum in Indian rupees, the girl would have been worth $2,017.10. |
"We are not aware of any law that prohibits underage marriage," she claimed.
| Now you know, though it's a law more honoured in the breach, like so much els in Pakistan. |
Police on behalf of the state registered a First Information Report (FIR) under sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013 against eight people, including the fathers of both the minor girl and the groom, the nikah khawan Moulvi Qurban Ali Halepoto, and four other people of the Arisar community who had "brokered the deal". 
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