The Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice has rejected a bill that would have seen the minimum age for marriage set at 18.

Three votes were cast in favour of the bill while six were cast against it.

Determination of age for marriage was declared unIslamic by Dr Qibla Ayaz, Chair of the Council of Islamic Ideology, during the meeting of the committee.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, also a member of the committee, advocated for fixing the marriage age limit at 18 years.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Central Secretary Information Dr Nafeesa Shah asked, if 16 years was an Islamic age for marriage, how 18 could be unIslamic.