QUETTA: A 13-year-old girl, who claims to have been forcibly married to a 40-year-old man, has approached the police to save her from domestic violence.

Noor Khatoon, a resident of Maulana Mor area in Jaffarabad district, lodged a complaint against her husband Mohammad Hayat Pahore and in-laws.

“She said she was forcibly married to the man last month and he, his brother and her other in-laws had been torturing her,” police said on Wednesday, adding that the complainant would be presented before a court.

Also read: Little headway in child marriage laws

The girl also appealed to the chief justice and the government to take measures against domestic violence in the region.

Jaffarabad and other parts of eastern Balochistan dominated by tribal custom are said have a high ratio of domestic violence and honour killings and perpetrators often escape punishment because of poor investigation by police.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2014