The Islamabad High Court has allowed a 15-year-old girl to live with her husband in a case concerning underage marriage.
Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued a detailed verdict stating that although child marriage is not invalid under Sharia law, it is a criminal offense under the law.
The court recommended that the government improve NADRA’s system so that marriage certificates cannot be issued without age verification. It also said that marriage registrars must be bound not to register marriages involving anyone under 18 years of age.
The case involved Madiha Bibi, who had married of her own choice. In her statement to the court, she expressed her wish not to return to her parents and insisted she wanted to live with her husband. Even during her stay at the crisis center, she continued to express the same desire.
The judgment highlighted that, according to Sharia law, a marriage is valid with consent and after puberty.
However, the Islamabad Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 makes marriage under the age of 18 a criminal act. While the marriage certificate listed the bride’s age as around 18, NADRA records confirmed that she was 15.