Karachi, Dec 9 (PTI) A forty-year-old man was charged with raping a minor girl in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi on Wednesday.

Syed Ali Azhar forcibly converted a 13-year-old girl, then of Christian faith, to Islam and married her in October,

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a judicial magistrate in the city's court (south) was told.

The minor's family filed a case against Azhar and his family for kidnapping their daughter and her forcible conversion.

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The magistrate ordered registration of rape charge against Azhar and a case against cleric Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi, who allegedly performed the Nikah ceremony.

In his 20-page order, the judge noted Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 3 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013 were applicable against Azhar.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)