The clerics’ arguments are neither logical, nor legal, nor practical, but solely religious and emotional. Pakistan is a democratic not a theocratic state
Arzoo Raja case suspect challenges child marriage law in SHC
Case adjourned indefinitely SAMAA | Irfan Ul Haque Posted: May 3, 2021 | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
Photo: Online
Azhar Ali, the man who has been accused of marrying 13-year-old Arzoo Fatima in Karachi, has challenged Sindh’s child marriage law. He claimed that the minimum age of marriage in the province–18 years is not Shariah compliant.
A Sindh High Court bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, remarked that the petitioner should take the case to the Shariat court. “What does 18th Amendment have to do with child marriages? How is the child marriage law against Islam?”
She was then brought before a cleric who held a public conversion ceremony.
Some old men gathered around her and formed a circle and read some Islamic prayers.
The images are disturbing, to say the least.
Pakistan authorities said that the girl claims to be over 18-years-old and has converted of her own free will.
This is an excuse that we hear over and over and over again.
Every time a minor girl is converted, Pakistan says she did so willfully.
Matter of free will!
In August 2020, a 14-year-old Christian girl Maria Shahbaz was abducted and married in a similar fashion.
Legal group highlights forced marriages, conversions on International Women s Day heraldmalaysia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldmalaysia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Allow Arzoo Raja to live with ‘husband’, petitioner says
Father asks for time to submit written reply SAMAA | Irfan Ul Haque - Posted: Feb 1, 2021 | Last Updated: 2 months ago SAMAA | Irfan Ul Haque Posted: Feb 1, 2021 | Last Updated: 2 months ago
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Arzoo Raja should be allowed to live with her husband and his family now that she had accepted Islam, a petition filed by Syed Ali Azhar in the Sindh High Court read.
In a hearing on Monday, Ali said that the Shariah law gave him permission to live with Raja. The 14-year-old appeared before the court as well.