The Pakistan Senate on Friday passed the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill 2017, Dawn reported. It is the first comprehensive personal law applicable for the Hindu community in the country and covers marriage, registration of marriage, separation and remarriage. The new law makes way for the issuance of a “Shaadi Parath”, a document signed by the pundit and approved by the department concerned.

Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Pakistan Muslim League legislator and proponent of the Bill, said Hindu women faced difficulties in proving their marriage status in the country. “Such laws will help discourage forced conversions and streamline the Hindu community,” he added.

The legislation sets the minimum marriageable age for men and women at 18. Pakistani Hindus in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces will be under its purview. The country’s Sindh province has formulated its own Hindu Marriage law.

Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar had opposed the Bill and said the nation’s constitution was comprehensive enough to deal with such matters. Senator Nasreen Jalil, chairperson of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights that approved the Bill on January 2, said the delay in “formulating a personal family law for the Hindus of Pakistan” was against the principles of Islam as well as human rights provisions.

The country’s National Assembly had approved the Bill on September 26, 2015.