Pakistan's National Commission on the Status of Women  (NCSW) Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar has said there should be a uniform minimum age for girls’ marriage in the country.

She said people of different religious groups should follow it.

“I suggest that the minimum age for girl marriage should be 18 in Pakistan but in Punjab and some other provinces minimum age is 16. The minimum age…in Christian and Parsi religions is different. Unfortunately, a bill restraining child marriage in the country moved almost six times in parliament but could not sail through,” she said while talking to Dawn News after the National Stakeholders’ Conference on Ending Child Marriage.

“I have experience of legislation so I have been making efforts to amend the bill and make it acceptable to all stakeholders… The apex court should pass a judgement in that regard or an ordinance should be promulgated,” she said.

Replying to a question, Bakhtiar said that the religious segments had always been a hurdle in the passage of the bill.

Bakhtiar said it was a tragedy that millions of girls were out of school in Pakistan due to prevailing social and economic circumstances.