Pak House adopts Hindu marriage bill

x In a historic move, Pakistan's parliament has passed the much-delayed bill to enable the country's minority Hindu community to register their marriages.

The first ever national law was passed on Monday after the draft was presented in the lower house or National Assembly by minister for human rights Kamran Micheal.

The Nation newspaper reported that the law bill sets the minimum age for marriage for Hindus at 18. The minimum legal age for marriage for citizens of other religions is 18 for men and 16 for women.

Breaking the law regarding the minimum age would result in six months' jail and a Rs 5,000 fine.

 The new law legalises remarriage for a widow six months after her husband's death. It also grants Hindus the right to divorce, with women having the additional right to do so on grounds of negligence, bigamy or having been married before 18.