An illegal marriage in Pakistan has seen a five-year-old girl reportedly forced to wed a 22-year-old man.
Police were unable to arrive in time to stop the ceremony that occurred in the village of Raman Shar on the outskirts of Dakhan Town in central Pakistan, according to local news agency Dawn.
Five people were arrested by local police, including the groom and his father, the little girl and her mother, and the registrar who officiated the ceremony.
The father and groom were quickly detained and are set to be prosecuted under the country's Early Child Marriages Restraint Act of 2013.
The mother and daughter are also set to be prosecuted under the same legislation that prohibits woman under the age of 16 getting married.
Child, early and forced marriage is a widespread issue in the Islamic country.
Those that are found guilty of entering into such marriages in Pakistan are subject to rigorous punishment for up to three years.
The Girls not Brides initiative committed to ending child marriage said that 21 percent of Pakistani women are married by the time they reach the age of 18.
A proposal to increase the marriage age of females to 18 to match the age of males has been rejected by the Pakistani National Assembly.
Newshub.
