DADU: In order to protect their family from the possibility of flooding, 14-year-old Shamila and her 13-year-old sister Amina were married off in return for cash as the monsoon rains were set to arrive in Pakistan.
“When I learned I was getting married, I was pleased… Shamila told AFP that she had married a man twice her age in the hopes of leading a more prosperous life. “I thought my life would become easier,” she said.
“But I’m at my limit. I worry that, if it’s possible, I will have even less because of the rain.
Although Pakistan’s high rate of underage girl marriages had been gradually declining, rights activists warn that the country’s historic floods in 2022 have contributed to an increase in these marriages.
