ISLAMABAD: Presi­dent Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday signed an amendment to the Christian Marriage Act, 1872, raising the minimum age of marriage for both males and females to 18 years.

Since religious laws and personal laws are devolved subjects after the passage of 18th amendment, the new age of marriage for Christians will be applicable to Islamabad Capital Territory.

At the same time, activists belonging to the Christian community have decried upgradation of only one section of the 150-year-old law and said that the whole law needed to be upgraded.

The Act amends Section 60 of the Christian Marriage Act, 1872, where the age of Christian men and women intending to be married was required to exceed 16 and 13 years, respectively. Christian rights activists have called upon the government to upgrade the Christian Marriage Act as per requirements of 2024.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024