A court in Pakistan’s conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has sentenced a man (name withheld) to life imprisonment for the rape and kidnapping of his underage wife, marking a significant legal precedent in the region.
The victim’s lawyer, Mian Safeer, announced the verdict on Monday, highlighting its importance for women’s rights in the country.
“This is the first decision of its kind in the province,” Safeer said, emphasizing the groundbreaking nature of the ruling. The decision was handed down by a court specializing in gender-based violence cases in the north-western part of Pakistan.
The victim was living with her parents at the time of the offense, as the marriage ceremony had only been performed spiritually and not as a civil ceremony.
According to Safeer, the man abducted the young girl and kept her at his house for several days, during which he raped her.
The court sentenced the man to life imprisonment for both rape and abduction, in addition to imposing a fine.
This verdict is seen as a crucial step in addressing violence against women in Pakistan, a country often characterized by patriarchal norms and a population exceeding 240 million.
Marital rape has been officially criminalized in Pakistan since 2021. The first conviction for marital rape was reported in January of the same year, when a court sentenced a man to three years in prison.
Underage marriages, often arranged by guardians and deeply rooted in cultural and societal traditions, remain common in Pakistan.
