KARACHI, Oct 31: Police broke up a child marriage but did not register a case on Friday saying there was no provision in the relevant law to book the people who had arranged the ceremony.

A police raid foiled the marriage of a seven-year-old boy with a four-year-old girl on Thursday night in Nazimabad area of the city.

Unaware of what was happening around them, the boy and the little girl were in tears during the raid.

Police detained the boy’s father, Mohammad Ismail, and Maulana Gul Hussain Kamal, the Qazi who had been brought to solemnise the Nikah. The girl’s father, Nasir, escaped.

Liaquatabad SP Amir Farouqi told Dawn that an FIR could not be registered, but police had prepared a report which would be submitted to a first class magistrate.

The magistrate will decide the case under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, Mr Farouqi said.

“We spent the entire day looking for sections to book the families for the offence but there was no section in the Pakistan Penal Code which dealt with child marriage,” the Nazimabad SHO said.

According to police, Mohammad Ismail said his sister had been divorced 30 years ago and an ensuing dispute was being settled with the marriage between the children.

Police raided the place when Nazakat Ali, an office-bearer of the PPP district central and a relative of the family, informed them about the marriage.

The SHO quoted the Qazi as saying that the girl’s father had come to him saying that his services were required for the marriage of his 20-year-old daughter.

The Qazi, who is around 70 years old, told the media that he had refused to perform Nikah when he saw that the groom was a small boy wearing garlands and a little girl was in bridal dress.

Ismail told reporters that since he had been living in Dubai for years he was unaware of the local law about marriage.

He said that Nikah was mere a formality and Rukhsati would have taken place when the children attained puberty.

Ismail alleged that his relative Nazakat Ali was trying to settle personal score with him.