Father Arrested After Three-Year-Old Girl Is Allegedly Sold to a 60-Year-Old Man in a 'Walwar' Exchange

Police in Chaman, Pakistan, have arrested a father after investigating an alleged marriage arrangement involving his three-year-old daughter and a 60-year-old man, according to The Media Line.

Police said the arrangement existed on paper but the agreed walwar payment of 2.5 million Pakistani rupees (about £6,800) had not been made, meaning the proposed marriage had not taken effect. The 60-year-old man, identified as Salah Uddin, was being sought by police.

The case emerged after reports of the proposed arrangement spread online. Police identified the father as Abdul Baqi. They said the intended groom was Salah Uddin, a 60-year-old man from the area. Investigators are treating the matter as a child-marriage case under Balochistan law.

The allegation is serious, and the wording matters. Describing the child as already married would go beyond what the reporting supports.

The Media Line said the arrangement would take effect once the agreed sum was paid. On that account, the girl was not yet in a legally recognised marriage when police intervened.

The Walwar Payment Police Are Investigating

Walwar is a Pashto term for money paid by a groom or his family to the bride's family in connection with marriage. In this case, the reported arrangement concerned a child of three.

The account says investigators found that an arrangement had been made on paper, but the agreed payment had not been made.

That leaves a critical question about the girl's legal position. Police said the arrangement existed on paper, but the agreed walwar payment had not been made and the marriage had not taken effect.

Police have arrested her father, but the available reporting does not establish that a completed marriage occurred.

There is also no basis here to say what the child understood or experienced. Her identity is not needed to explain the investigation, and the account provides no statement from her mother.

What can be reported is the proposed marriage arrangement and the police response. Anything beyond that would be guesswork.

The case has another, separate strand. Investigators are examining whether a dispute between the families has any connection to the killing of the girl's older sister, Shukria Bibi.

She was killed in Kuchlak, near Quetta, roughly two weeks before the account was published. Shukria was Salah Uddin's daughter-in-law, according to the report.

Police arrested Shukria's husband, Kamran, on suspicion of killing her. Police are also investigating whether a dispute between the families was connected to her death, although the available reporting does not establish such a link.

The account describes a proposed marriage arrangement involving a child, but does not report that the agreed payment was made.

Police also alleged that Salah Uddin later demanded that Baqi send his 8-year-old daughter instead. That allegation, like the rest of the account, should be treated as a police claim pending further evidence.

It helps explain why tensions between the families may have escalated, but it does not prove causation.

What the Walwar Arrangement Leaves Unanswered

Balochistan's Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2025, sets the minimum marriage age at 18 and makes it an offence for an adult man to contract a child marriage.

An adult male who contracts a child marriage can face two to three years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 Pakistani rupees (about £270 to £540). Similar penalties apply to people who perform, conduct, direct, promote or abet a child marriage.

The possible penalty should not be mistaken for an outcome in this case. As of the latest reports reviewed, no court verdict had been reported. The available reporting does not indicate that a court has reached a verdict in the case.

The debate over Pakistan's child-marriage laws has also drawn opposition from the Council of Islamic Ideology. In 2025, the council criticised the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, arguing that provisions setting 18 as the minimum age conflicted with Islamic injunctions.

Its position concerned the federal capital's legislation, not the specific Balochistan case.

For now, the reported investigation centres on the paperwork, the unpaid sum and the search for Salah Uddin. Separately, police are investigating Shukria's killing and whether the families' dispute bears on it. Those are consequential questions. The available account does not yet answer them.