PESHAWAR – President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Islamabad Capital Territory child marriage bill, 2025. The new law sets the legal marriage age at 18 for both boys and girls in Islamabad. This marks a significant move in Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to eliminate child marriage.
The bill replaces the colonial-era Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 in the federal capital. It aligns Islamabad’s law with Sindh, the only province that previously set the marriage age at 18 through legislation passed in 2013. Punjab and other provinces have yet to follow.
Under this new legislation, those officiating underage marriages, such as Nikah registrars, may face up to one year in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees [357 US dollars]. If an adult male marries an underage girl, he can be sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment. Anyone who facilitates or pressures a minor into marriage may face seven years in prison and a fine of 1mn rupees [3,571 US dollars].
A key provision defines any sexual activity within a marriage involving a minor as statutory rape. Courts now have the authority to halt underage marriages if notified in time. The law also ensures that the identity of any whistleblower remains protected.
The Council of Islamic Ideology declared the child marriage bill “un-Islamic.” Still, rights advocates have welcomed the legislation as a step forward. Senator Sherry Rehman, who led the bill’s passage, called it a sign of progress. She cautioned, however, that passing laws alone is not enough and stressed that implementation is usually where the system fails.
Rehman highlighted the weak enforcement of the Sindh law passed by the same party in 2013. She urged NADRA to enforce age verification prior to Nikah registration, a demand she has made repeatedly in the Sindh Assembly since 2021.
With Islamabad now enforcing the child marriage bill, the focus shifts to Punjab and other provinces. The real challenge for the state is to ensure that the law does not remain only on paper but leads to meaningful protection for children across the country.
