Pakistan lawmaker battles to raise punishment for child marriage

By Eissa Saeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A bill introduced in Pakistan's National Assembly to increase the punishment for guardians, clerics and spouses involved in child marriages should be supported by religious leaders, the legislator behind the move said on Wednesday. "I've seen this injustice in my constituency and around the country in every single province," legislator Marvi Memon told Reuters. "It's time that we stand up for our women." Pakistan's conservative religious parties strongly opposed the bill tabled by Memon on Tuesday, and some Muslim clerics want the penalties scrapped altogether. Currently, women can legally marry at 16 in Pakistan and men at 18.



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