November 26, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 27, 1429

LONDON, Nov 25: Britain introduced a new law on Tuesday bolstering rules against forced marriages, after Foreign Secretary David Miliband highlighted a case in Pakistan ahead of a visit to the south Asian country.

The new law allows courts to stop forced marriages and provide protection to those who have been married against their will.

It also gives judges the power to require individuals to reveal the whereabouts of people thought to be at risk of being forced into marriage, stop potential victims from being taken abroad, and seize passports.

According to Britain’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), 65 per cent of known cases of the practice involve Pakistan, where Miliband is set to visit on Wednesday.

The FMU also says that a quarter of forced marriage instances involve Bangladesh, with 85 per cent of all victims being women and a third of victims under the age of 18.

Distinct from mutually-accepted arranged marriages, forced marriages have led to suicides and “honour killing” murders in Britain, shocking a nation widely deemed to have successfully absorbed immigrant cultures.

In a newspaper article on Sunday, Miliband said Britain was taking a tougher stand against forced marriage, describing the practice as “a stain on those who carry it out, those who condone it and also those who ignore it”.—AFP