Pakistan Assembly passes Hindu marriage bill
The much-awaited landmark bill to regulate marriages of minority Hindus in Pakistan is set to become a law with the Assembly unanimously passing it. The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017, which is the first elaborate Hindu community’s personal law, was adopted by the Senate on 17th February.
The bill is extensively acceptable to Hindus living in Pakistan because it relates to marriage, registration of marriage, separation and remarriage, with the minimum age of marriage set at 18 years for both boys and girls.The bill will help Hindu women get documentary proof of their marriage.
It will be the first personal law for Pakistani Hindus, applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The Sindh province has already formulated its own Hindu Marriage Law.
The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017 had already been approved by the lower house or the National Assembly on September 26, 2015.It now just needs signature of the President, a mere formality, to become a law.
