Bahawalpur Saddar police thwarted a bid by a man to marry a 13-year-old girl and arrested four suspects, including the would-be groom, at Basti Azeempur here on Thursday.

According to the First Information Report No 908/25 registered under sections 420, 468, 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code andrelevant sections of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, ASIAzhar Javed, on a tip-off, raided a place in Bast Azeempur.

It says that at the time of the raid, the marriage of an underage girl, Aisha Azhar (13) was about to be held with the suspect, Imran.

The police arrested Imran, his father Belal, the girl’s father Azhar and Nikah Khwan Qari Riaz Hussain and lodged them in the lock-up after registering the case against them.

Further investigations are in progress.

Source: Dawn