The Pakistan Parliament passed the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 on Thursday, the first comprehensive personal law applicable for to the minority community in the country. It 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, which is aimed at helping Hindu women get documentary evidence of their marriage.

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

The Bill will now be sent to President Mamnoon Hussain for final assent. Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael said the legislation aims to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the minority community. “There was no law to regulate the registration of Hindu marriages and ancillary matters,” Michael told Dawn.

The Bill 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 its own law on Hindu marriages. The law also specifies that the concept of judicial separation frees married couples from the obligation of living together.

On February 18, the Pakistan Senate had passed the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill 2016, Dawn reported. Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar had opposed the legislation 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, had 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.