A case involving a three-year-old girl allegedly married to a 60-year-old man in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has triggered widespread outrage and a police investigation, with authorities also examining whether the arrangement is connected to the recent killing of the girl’s teenage sister.

Police in the border city of Chaman arrested the girl’s father, Abdul Baqi, after the alleged marriage arrangement came to light. The man identified as the girl’s intended husband, 60-year-old Salah Uddin, remained at large as investigators pursued the case.

According to police and local reporting, the agreement involved 2.5 million Pakistani rupees, or roughly $9,000, under the Pashto custom known as “walwar,” in which money is paid by a groom or his family to the bride’s family.

Authorities say the girl’s mother and the child have been placed under police protection while the investigation continues.

What happened to the 3-year-old girl?

The case emerged in Chaman, a city near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

According to investigators, the girl’s father allegedly arranged a marriage between his three-year-old daughter and Salah Uddin, a 60-year-old man, in exchange for 2.5 million Pakistani rupees.

Police intervened after the arrangement became public.

The exact legal status of the alleged marriage is an important part of the case. Reporting from The Media Line said the full walwar payment had not been completed when police became involved, meaning the arrangement had not fully taken effect in the practical sense described by those involved.

Authorities nevertheless treated the matter as a serious child-marriage case and began investigating without waiting for a complaint from a family member.

What is walwar?

Walwar is a Pashto term for money paid by a groom or his family to the bride’s family.

The custom exists in parts of the region as a form of bride price, although the amount and circumstances can vary significantly between families and communities.

In the Chaman case, the reported payment was 2.5 million rupees.

Child-rights advocates have long raised concerns about practices involving financial transactions connected to marriage when they involve minors, particularly when poverty or pressure from extended families influences the decision.

It is important not to treat the case as representative of all Pashtun communities or all marriages involving walwar. The investigation concerns specific people and allegations.

Why was the girl’s father arrested?

Police arrested Abdul Baqi after the alleged arrangement became known.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti directed authorities to investigate the case rather than waiting for a formal complaint from relatives.

The response involved police officials responsible for gender-related matters as well as local officers in Chaman.

Authorities also placed the three-year-old girl and her mother under protection while they investigated the circumstances surrounding the alleged marriage arrangement.

The 60-year-old man named as the girl’s intended husband was reportedly still being sought by police.

What happened to the girl’s teenage sister?

The case has become more serious because police are also investigating the recent killing of the girl’s older sister, Shukria Bibi.

According to police accounts reported by Pakistani and international media, Shukria had previously been married to Kamran, the son of Salah Uddin.

Her father reportedly arranged that marriage when she was 13, with a walwar payment of 1.5 million rupees.

Police say Kamran was arrested after Shukria was killed in the Kuchlak area on the outskirts of Quetta.

Investigators are now examining whether disputes surrounding the two marriages could be connected.

How was the sister allegedly killed?

Police have said Kamran told investigators that he became angry after Shukria looked outside through a doorway and that he struck her with an iron rod.

That account is an allegation made in the investigation and has not been established by a court.

The circumstances surrounding her death are particularly relevant because the family’s account suggests that pressure over another minor daughter’s marriage may have preceded the killing.

Police are therefore looking at the wider relationship between the two families rather than investigating the child-marriage allegations in isolation.

Was the 3-year-old marriage completed?

Reports indicate that the financial agreement had not been fully completed when authorities intervened.

That created an unusual situation in which the arrangement was described as a marriage or nikah, but the full walwar payment had not been made.

According to reporting from The Media Line, the unresolved arrangement could have continued to bind the girl to the agreement in the future even if she did not immediately begin living with the man.

Such an arrangement could also create pressure when the child eventually reached adulthood and her family attempted to arrange another marriage.

The investigation is now determining exactly what was agreed, who participated and what legal steps were taken.

What does Pakistani law say about child marriage in Balochistan?

Balochistan has a specific law banning child marriage.

The Balochistan Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2025, which came into force after being passed and assented to in November 2025, defines an adult as someone aged 18 or above and defines child marriage as a marriage involving a child.

The law applies throughout Balochistan.

Under the Act, an adult male who contracts a child marriage can face rigorous imprisonment of between two and three years and a fine ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 Pakistani rupees.

A person who performs, conducts, directs, promotes or abets a child marriage can face the same two-to-three-year imprisonment range and the same fine.

The law also requires marriage officials to obtain computerized national identity documentation or proof of registration for both parties.

What happens to a child marriage under the new law?

The 2025 law contains particularly strong provisions concerning marriages involving children.

In certain circumstances, including where a child is sold for the purpose of marriage, the marriage is declared void from the beginning.

The law also makes offences under the Act cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.

That gives authorities a framework for intervening even where a family member does not come forward to file a conventional complaint.

In the Chaman case, this legal framework is significant because the provincial government ordered an investigation after the allegations became public.

Why did poverty become part of the explanation?

The girl’s father has reportedly said poverty was a major factor behind the decisions he made.

In an account given to a local vlogger before his arrest, Baqi reportedly said financial hardship influenced his decision and that he wanted to buy a house.

He also alleged that his older daughter had faced violence after her marriage and that demands were being made for another minor girl to be married into the same family.

Those statements are part of Baqi’s account and should be distinguished from facts independently established by investigators.

Police are examining the allegations to determine what actually happened and whether the claims about family pressure played a role in the later violence.

Did the groom’s family ask for another child?

According to the police account cited by The Media Line, Salah Uddin allegedly demanded that Baqi send his eight-year-old daughter instead after the three-year-old marriage arrangement was made.

That allegation is now part of the wider investigation.

It also illustrates how financial and familial disputes can become intertwined when marriage arrangements involve minors and large payments.

However, because the investigation is ongoing, claims about who demanded what should be attributed to police or the people who made those statements rather than presented as proven facts.

Why has the case attracted such attention?

The reported age gap and the alleged financial nature of the marriage arrangement have drawn widespread public attention.

The case has also generated concern because it involves not just one alleged child marriage but an older sister whose death is now being investigated for a possible connection to the dispute.

That has transformed the case from an allegation involving an underage marriage into a broader investigation involving alleged coercion, domestic violence and the role of customary financial arrangements.

It has also focused attention on the gap that can exist between laws banning child marriage and the social and economic pressures that may allow such practices to persist.

Can custom override the law?

No.

A customary practice such as walwar does not automatically provide an exception to Balochistan’s child-marriage law.

The 2025 provincial legislation applies across Balochistan and specifically penalizes adults who contract child marriages as well as people who facilitate or promote them.

The law also says that where a child is sold for marriage under the circumstances specified in the legislation, the marriage can be void from the outset.

That means customary acceptance does not determine whether an arrangement is legally valid.

What protection has been provided to the girl?

Police have placed the three-year-old and her mother under protection while the investigation continues.

That step is intended to prevent further pressure on the child and to give investigators a safer environment in which to establish what happened.

The authorities have also been searching for Salah Uddin, the man identified as the alleged husband.

The girl’s father’s arrest means the investigation is not focused only on the older man allegedly involved in the arrangement. Authorities are examining the role of everyone who may have facilitated or participated in the alleged child marriage.

What happens next in the investigation?

The police investigation now has several strands.

Authorities must establish the precise circumstances of the alleged marriage involving the three-year-old, determine who arranged and participated in it, and establish whether any financial transaction took place.

At the same time, investigators are examining the murder of Shukria Bibi and whether the dispute over another child marriage was connected to her death.

The two investigations could provide important context for each other, but a connection has not yet been proven.

Any charges filed and subsequent court proceedings will determine which allegations can ultimately be established as facts.

What this case says about child marriage in Balochistan

The Chaman case has brought renewed attention to the difficulties of enforcing child-marriage laws in areas where poverty, customary practices and family pressure can intersect.

Balochistan’s 2025 law provides a clear legal framework and sets 18 as the threshold for adulthood under the legislation.

The existence of the law, however, does not by itself eliminate practices that occur outside formal institutions or under family pressure.

That is why the investigation matters beyond this individual case. It will test how the provincial authorities use the new legal framework when a customary marriage arrangement involving a child becomes public.

For now, the three-year-old girl remains under police protection, her father has been arrested, and the man named in the alleged arrangement is being sought.

At the same time, investigators are trying to determine whether the death of her teenage sister was connected to the same chain of family disputes.

The final answers will depend on the police investigation and court proceedings, not on the claims circulating online.