How Families and Local Offices Bypass Punjab’s New ChildMarriage Law

Pakistan passes new laws to protect children from early marriage all the time. Recently, the Punjab government fixed the official marriage age at 18, matching Sindh. This new law sets heavy fines and strict jail time for parents, grooms, and clerics who arrange marriages for minors. On paper, it looks like a massive success. But in real life, weddings for young girls are still happening out in the open. The system has a quiet, dark secret. Strict laws do not scare people because families have found
an easy way to trick the system. Before the wedding music even starts, parents visit their local Union Council office. They allegedly pay a little bribe to walk out with a brand new NADRA B- Form or birth certificate made exactly according to their choice. With a quick change in the local computer database, an underage child instantly becomes a legal 18-year-old adult on paper.

The Union Council Shortcut

“Most news stories only talk about laws passed in big assembly halls or show general numbers about child brides,” says a local child rights activist who asked to remain anonymous. “They completely miss the actual trick that allows the crime to happen. The law says you cannot marry a child under 18. So, families use money or connections at the local office to change the child’s age on paper. Once the B-Form says 18, the crime simply disappears.” Aneesa, a court reporter and social activist, shares what she sees every day. “I spend my whole day in court, and I regularly see how easily underage marriages take place,” she says. When Aneesa asked people at court about the new child marriage law, they simply laughed it off. They told her, “Who actually follows these laws? Once a girl grows up, she should get married. The law does not matter.” These families have zero fear of legal punishments because they already know how to bypass them.

Why Clerics Are Safe

This paper trick leaves local Nikah Registrars completely safe from the law too. When a cleric arrives at a wedding, he is legally required to check official NADRA documents. But when the paperwork matches the legal age, they look the other way, even if the bride standing in front of them looks like a young schoolgirl.”If the official B-Form says the girl is 18, my hands are tied,” a local religious registrar explained quietly. “I cannot argue with a government document. Even if I know she looks too young, the paper says she is legal. I perform the wedding because, on paper, I am following the law and no case can be filed against me.

Why Strict Punishments Are Failing

Babar Ali Khatran, an Advocate of the High Court, explains the legal failure. “The new legislation has very strict punishments, but it only works if the data is accurate.”The law is failing because changing a child’s age on a birth listing or B-Form has become a casual, everyday business. If a family decides to marry off their daughter early due to poverty,tradition, or family pressure, their first stop is not the wedding hall. They go straight to the local government clerk’s desk.With a single click on a keyboard, the local Union Council system turns a child into an adult,transforming an illegal act into a legal marriage. Until the government tightly locks birth registration records and strictly monitors the staff inside local Union Councils, child marriages will keep happening, completely safe from the laws meant to stop them.