Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

This Act restrains the solemnisation of child marriages across Pakistan and applies to all Pakistani citizens wherever they are. Section 2 defines a "child" as a male under 18 or a female under 16, and a "minor" as anyone under 18; a "child marriage" is any marriage where either party is a child.

Section 4 punishes a male above 18 who marries a child with simple imprisonment up to one month, a fine up to one thousand rupees, or both. Section 5 imposes the same punishment on anyone who performs, conducts, or directs a child marriage, unless they can show they reasonably believed it was not a child marriage. Section 6 punishes a parent or guardian who promotes, permits, or negligently fails to prevent a child marriage with the same penalty, though women cannot be sentenced to imprisonment under this section; the law presumes negligence unless the person proves otherwise.

Section 8 restricts jurisdiction so that only a Magistrate of the first class can hear these cases, and Section 9 requires that a complaint come from the local Union Council (or another prescribed authority where there is none), within one year of the alleged offence. Section 12 gives courts power to issue an injunction stopping an arranged child marriage before it happens, after giving the person notice and a chance to be heard; knowingly disobeying such an injunction is punishable with imprisonment up to three months or a fine up to one thousand rupees, or both (again, no imprisonment for women).

This is an old law from 1929 that has been amended several times, including changes made through the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961. It is important to note that provinces such as Sindh and Punjab have since enacted their own separate child marriage laws with different age thresholds and penalties, so the age definitions and penalty amounts in this federal Act may not reflect the current law applicable in a given province, and should be checked against the latest official text.