UMERKOT: Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Syed Ali Mardan Shah has urged police authorities to register cases on behalf of state over complaints about early marriages, especially in Umerkot and Tharparkar districts.

Speaking at a seminar on “Impact of early marriages on growing population” organised by the population welfare department here on Saturday, the minister said early marriages needed to be stopped and violators should be brought to book under the recently passed law against early marriages.

He said that the inhuman practice of sale of underage girls into marriage had been in practice in Umerkot and Tharparkar which destroyed childhood of underage brides and risked their and their children’s lives if they became mothers too early. He said that it would add to the burden of an alarmingly burgeoning population. The country was already reeling from the impact of extreme poverty, lack of resources and population.

Dr Yasmeen Abbasi, Ali Mohammad Panhwar and others also spoke at the seminar where children presented a tableau on early marriage and its impact on society.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014