The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police foiled an attempt to marry off a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man in Pakistan's Charsadda region, media reports said.

The police arrested the elderly groom and Nikkah Khwan (a person responsible for solemnizing marriage).

According to police, the girl’s father, Alam Syed, had agreed to sell her to the elderly man for Rs 500,000, ARY News reported.

Ahead of the marriage ceremony, police arrested the groom who was identified as Habib Khan.

The girl's father managed to escape the scene.

A case has been registered against the 72-year-old man, the girl's father and Nikkah Khwan under the Child Marriage Act.

Despite laws against child marriage, Pakistan has recorded several such cases in recent times.