Three-year-old child bride is sold to 60-year-old man in case that has sparked outrage in Pakistan as father is arrested

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 10:26 EDT, 24 September 2026 | Updated: 10:50 EDT, 24 September 2026 A man has been arrested in Pakistan for allegedly marrying off his three-year-old daughter to a 60-year-old man for less than £7,000. Police said that Abdul Baqi, from the border city of Chaman in Balochistan, sold his young daughter to the man, named locally as Salah Uddin, in exchange for 2.5million Pakistani rupees (£6,802), according to the BBC. The exchange was carried out as part of 'walwar', an outdated tradition that sees a male partner's family give the family of a woman money in exchange for her hand in marriage. News of the young girl's alleged marriage to the man went viral, causing local authorities to investigate the matter. They found that while the walwar had been completed on paper, no money had been exchanged. Middle Eastern news agency The Media Line reported that once the agreed amount had been paid, the marriage arrangement would have taken place and the three-year-old would be considered the 60-year-old's wife. Though the girl's father has been arrested, Salah Uddin has disappeared, with police saying they are hunting him down. The police investigation into the marriage has also been linked to the killing of the young girl's older sister, Shukriya Bibi. Women and children, who become displaced, take refuge in a camp, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan September 14, 2022Shukriya, who was killed around two weeks ago in Kuchlak, on the outskirts of Quetta, was the daughter-in-law of Salah Uddin. Police arrested her husband on suspicion of killing her and are also looking into whether a recent dispute between the two families is connected to Shukriya's death. The Pakistani province of Balochistan prohibits child marriage, with a 2025 law making it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to marry an adult. Adult men convicted of child marriage can face up to three years in prison, as well as a fine of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees (£540).Though child marriage has been declining in the country for some time, it is still a significant problem. As of 2018, nearly one-in-25 girls under the age of 15 have been married. According to UNICEF data, more than one-in-five girls under 18 are married in Balochistan. The issue is worse among poorer households, with 34 per cent of women from lower-income backgrounds across Pakistan being married. Last year, religious leaders in the country decried a new law banning child marriage as 'un-Islamic'. Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology – a prominent body that advises the government of the Muslim majority nation 'whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam' – opposed the bill.The council said in a statement: 'Declaring marriage below the age of eighteen as child abuse and prescribing punishments for it, and other controversial provisions, are not in line with Islamic injunctions.'Overall, the Council rejected the bill. It also clarified that this bill was not sent to the Council for review by the Parliament or the Senate.'Marriage should be protected from unnecessary legal complications, and a public awareness campaign in this regard could prove more effective,' it argued.