Source: Dawn
Date: Sept 21, 2010
PESHAWAR, Sept 21: The Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Assembly on Tuesday passed the Child Protection Bill 2010 after rejecting a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal move to reduce the age limit for children from 18 to 15 years.
Mufti Kifayatullah and Iqbal Din of the MMA tabled their identical amendments in the bill seeking substitution of the words “eighteen years” with “fifteen years.” Law and parliamentary affairs minister Arshad Abdullah on behalf of the minister for social welfare tabled the bill in the House with Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chaghermati in the chair.
The law, passed with certain amendments brought by two lawmakers of the MMA and PPP member Abdul Akbar Khan, is designed to provide care, protection, maintenance, welfare, training, education, rehabilitation and reintegration to children at risk in the province.
Under the new law children protection court would be set up in consultation with the Peshawar High Court. The court may issue orders in respect of handing over custody of a child at risk either to his/her parents, guardian, a suitable person or a child protection institution.
Giving arguments in favour of their identical amendments for lowering the age to define a child, the MMA lawmakers said that Sharia determined puberty period at 15 years, therefore the bill should be aligned with the teachings of Islam. They said that some people could exploit the age period and that it would also encourage criminal activities and child abuse in the society.
“A faithful observes fasting from the age of 15 and adolescence period also starts from the same age. Therefore child age should be reduced from 18 to 15 years,” argued Mufti Kifayatullah.
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