 Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi of the Lahore High Court on Monday validated the marriage of a 12-and-a-half years old girl who had secretly married a man without the consent of her parents. Zeenat had married Babar Javed of her free will and her parents lodged a Hudood case against the couple. A report placed in the court said that the girl was pregnant. The couple moved the court to quash the first information report. Justice Rizvi observed that a girl can marry a man of her choice after reaching puberty which, he said, starts with menstruation. He did not accept the prosecutor's argument that under the law, a girl 16 years old at least, would be regarded as "mature". He said that under Sharia law, puberty starts with menstruation and Zeenat's marriage was valid because she had married after menstruation. |