In some cases, daughters are sold to other tribesmen by their own fathers as an alternative way of settling debt, which is usually accumulated as a result of gambling. The benefactor as a result marries his young bounty so that she may not have any excuse for returning to her native home (in the same concept as how ordinary people spend money that they acquire).
There have also been cases, especially in Pakistan where daughters (sometimes as young as 3) have been sold to others for personal gain, usually to raise money for gambling, drinking, smoking and consuming drugs. Prices for child brides usually range from PKRs 80,000 to PKRs 200,000 (~US$ 1,340 to ~US$ 3,350). In March 2004 in Sindh province, Pakistan, a man was charged for selling his 7 year old daughter to a 35 year old man for marriage. In another rather peculiar case, a 13-year old girl, bought for PKRs 53,000 (~US$ 888) was later rejected by her buyer on the ground that the girl was not "healthy" enough, and he demanded a "healthier" girl from the seller.
Another form of pedophilic marriage is linked to a tribal custom called Vani, which is a common practice in the Punjab province of Pakistan and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. This custom is tied to blood feuds among the differing tribes and clans where the young girls are forcibly married-off in order to resolve the feuds. The Vani could be avoided if the clan of the girl agrees to pay money in lieu, called Deet. Otherwise the young bride will have to pay for the crime of her male relatives by spending the rest of her life with a rival tribesman. In early January of 2010, ten people including a Muslim cleric and the father of the girls, were arrested for participating in "a jirga that declared two girls vani" in Pakistan. The girls (ages 9 and 3) were being used to resolve a marriage dispute.
Another rather similar concept is called Badal, or revenge. This custom is strong in Pashtun society native to northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, and leads to a need for disputes to be settled quickly to avoid further bloodshed. Girls are treated as second-class citizens when they are sent to be a bride in a new family to mend ties.
Finally, we have forced conversions of minors via marriage. This is when children from minority communities, such as the Hindus' and Christians, are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to one of the kidnappers. These types of marriages have seen a sharp rise in recent years, due to the general indifference among the police forces towards the plight of the non-Muslim, and laws which prevent the return of 'Muslim' children to their non-Muslim parents. As was the case for the Christian mother Sajida Masih, who's 12 year-old daughter Huma was abducted at gunpoint by Muhammad Imran on the 23rd of February, 2009. When the terrified mother reported the crime to Sadar police station in Gujranwala, the police ridiculed her, and told her there was nothing they could do as she is now a Muslim.
In September 2011, a 12-year-old girl was given in marriage to an 85-year-old man in Chiniot. Rani was sold to her fathers rival for five acres of land, thus a blood debt. Langrana Station House Officer (SHO) Zafar Bhatti said that he had conducted a raid at the marriage ceremony but found that no laws were broken. “I cannot arrest anyone here because the girl is an adult as per Islamic Law and Shariah. She is 12-years-old and that is not too young for marriage.”
In October 2011, Kot Shakir police arrested three men for marrying a 1-year-old infant to a 24-year-old man.
