Pakistan's ruling party introduced a bill on Tuesday aimed at outlawing the forced marriage of women and practices preventing them from inheriting property.
President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to empower women as part of his vision of "enlightened moderation" for the predominantly Muslim country of 160 million people where women, particularly in poor, rural areas, face widespread discrimination and violence.
The proposed law was introduced by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, a lawmaker and head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, in the National Assembly.
"Whoever coerces, or in any manner whatsoever compels a woman to enter into marriage shall be punished with imprisonment" for up to three years and a fine, according to the proposed law.
The bill foresees the same penalty to discourage wanni or swara, a custom in which a woman is forced into marriage to settle a dispute between two families.
Another provision bans forcing a woman into a ``marriage with the Holy Koran,'' a practice still seen in deeply conservative rural parts in which a woman swears on Islam's holy book never to marry.
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