KARACHI – For the first time in the country’s history, marriage laws for millions of Hindus living in Sindh have been codified after the Sindh Assembly approved the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016, on Monday.
Senior Pakistan People’s Party leader and Sindh Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmad Khuhro moved the bill in the provincial assembly which was later passed after a debate between the opposition and treasury benches.
The bride and groom cannot be less than 18 years, according to the text of the approved draft. Married couples will be required to obtain a marriage registration certificate, while a couple can also face fines in case their marriage is not registered.
Zoroastrians and Sikhs will also be able to register their marriages under the new law. Hindus, despite being the second-largest religious minority group in Pakistan, with a population of 3.3 million, had no legal mechanism to register marriages.
