Muslim girls can marry on their own will

The Supreme Court declared Friday Muslim women no longer require the consent of their guardians to marry and can enter into a valid marriage of their own free will, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

The ruling, which supports one made in 1981, overturned one in 1996 when Hafiz Abdul Waheed asked the Lahore High Court to declare the marriage of his daughter, Saima Waheed, invalid because she had married without his consent.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

The court agreed that the marriage was invalid.

In 1997 Saima Waheed and her husband Arshad Ahmed took the matter to the Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court's decision and declared the marriage legal, upholding a 1981 ruling by the Federal Shariat court.

The Federal Shariat Court, which was created in 1979 and deals with laws regarded as repugnant to Islam, had ruled that adult Muslim girls could marry without the permission of their parents or guardians.

Most marriages in Pakistan are arranged by the couple's parents but this is beginning to change as educated parents in the cities are taking into account the wishes of their children before deciding on whom they should marry.

However Pakistan is riddled with cases of people being killed by their relatives for allegedly shaming the family, including by marrying someone without consent, in what are called "honour killings."

More than 450 Pakistani women or girls were killed by relatives last year in honour killings, according to the Human Rights Commission.