Minor girl recovered, imam arrested over forced marriage in Toba Tek Singh

Key Points:

Nawan Lahore police safely recover an abducted minor girl in Toba Tek Singh district
Case 463/26 was registered under the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 after the September 17 report
The arrested accused is an imam from Taunsa; the girl has been handed over to her parents

TOBA TEK SINGH: Nawan Lahore police have recovered an abducted minor girl from her alleged abductor’s custody in Toba Tek Singh.

According to a Toba Tek Singh police spokesman, the accused, Haq Nawaz, son of Abdul Latif of Choi in Taunsa tehsil of Dera Ghazi Khan district, served as an imam at a mosque.

Nawan Lahore police station building in Toba Tek Singh district

The spokesman said the accused allegedly abducted the girl from Adda Nawan Lahore before forcibly marrying her.

He said the occurrence was reported to police on September 17, after which case 463/26 was registered against the accused at Nawan Lahore police station.

The spokesman added that District Police Officer Ikhlaq Ullah Tarar took notice of the occurrence before tasking the station house officer with the girl’s recovery.

According to the spokesman, the SHO-led team raided locations in several Punjab districts on information gathered during the hunt.

The spokesman said the team finally arrested Haq Nawaz, recovering the girl safely from his custody.

He said the girl was handed over to her parents after completion of the legal formalities.

Under the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026, a child is any person under 18 years of age; its section 4 sends an adult who marries a child to rigorous imprisonment for two to three years.

Section 3 bars a Nikah registrar from registering such a marriage on pain of one year’s imprisonment plus a Rs100,000 fine, while section 7 punishes a guardian who promotes or permits one with two to three years in prison.

“The bride’s age is overstated or left unrecorded, keeping the union invisible until a complaint reaches the police.”

In practice, such marriages are usually solemnised quietly at home or in a mosque without registration. The bride’s age is overstated or left unrecorded, keeping the union invisible until a complaint reaches the police.

The Act also empowers the sessions court under section 9 to stop a planned child marriage on information laid before it, with the informant’s identity kept hidden on request — a route open to any neighbour, teacher or relative who learns of one in time.

According to the spokesman, further legal proceedings in the case are under way.

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