Baloch activist speaks against early marriages

Quetta: A Balochistan based human rights activist Rehmat Ullah Baloch Sunday said early marriages in the province were against the fundamental rights. 

Criticizing the tribal tradition, he said the parents usually decide the marriages of their babies before birth and get them married at an early age while they are quite young to realize what is happening.

 

He said as a result the underage marriage, Balochistan is on the top of high maternal mortality rate due to weak health and performing tough chores. He said, “If they bear infant they don’t have enough nourishment to recover health properly along with heavy trauma and depression waiting for the minor brides.”

Rehmat Ullah Baloch said that young girls under the age of 15 have greater chances of developing complications which could lead to death. He urged the provincial authorities to make a proper mechanism to stop early age marriages and take strict action against them. He demanded the government and international organizations to work together to overcome the menace of child marriages.

A sociologist, Abdul Qadoss Kakar said that in tribal societies, child marriages are common where girls get married off at a very young age with neither their parents nor in-laws knowing the physical and psychological impacts of the marriage.

He said unfortunately, the families here prefer mothers to give birth to maximum kids and mostly the young under age women have to bear the brunt which ultimately puts their life into perils. He said, “There are very few mothers and children who survive from pregnancy to delivery due to early marriages in the province.” He said lack of awareness is the main issue of the early age marriages. Awareness campaigns should be organized to notify the difficulties and hardships bore by juveniles as a young wife and mother, he added.

Religious scholar, Maulana Baz Gull said that in Islam when a male or female reaches at the stage of puberty mostly at 13 or 15 years of age, they are asked to decide either they are willing to marry or not. “If they are mature and want to marry then that is their right and if they are forced to marry someone is a sin,” he added.