Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly passes law setting 18 as minimum marriage age

The Punjab Assembly has passed the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026, setting 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage for both male and female. 

Any form of cohabitation, before attaining the age of eighteen years, with or without consent, resulting from a child marriage shall be the child abuse under the Act. This offence declares as a non-bailable and non-compoundable.

This Bill aims to restrain the child marriages in the Punjab and for the matter connected therewith and ancillary thereto. It shows a push towards modernizing child protection laws to remove gender-based age distinction and discrimination while setting minimum marriageable age for both male and female as eighteen years. This Bill penalizes persons promoting child marriages, causing child trafficking and child abuse for the purpose of child protection. 

This Act may be cited as the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026.It shall extend to whole of the Punjab.It shall come into force at once.