Fawad deplores lawmakers, ministers decision to 'vote for underage marriage'

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday lamented that the fifty lawmakers including ministers chose to vote in favour of underage marriage, referring to the bill seeking ban on underage marriage in the country.

The minister said the lawmakers' decision to oppose the bill was 'enough to give sleepless nights to the world and intelligentia' of the country.

He called it a scary moment and asked: 'what hopes can one really attribute to a society whose fifty elected representatives and even ministers actually voted for underage marriage?'

The Child Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which seeks to prohibit marriages of children under the age of 18 was moved by the minority member from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani.

It was strongly opposed by the Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan while Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari supported the proposed legislation.