Assalamualaikum Auntie,
I am a 25-year-old girl. A boy proposed to me recently and, after getting satisfied by the answers and assurances he gave to my marriage-related questions, I committed to him. He has been deeply respectful all along. Last year, our families visited each other. Both parties involved approved of the union, except my father.

My father refused to give any reason for his rejection. The boy offered to fulfil any demand that my father makes, but that didn’t work. The boy has pleaded to me to contract a court marriage with him and that he will take full responsibility for me.

Meanwhile, my father has beaten me because I have refused to end contact with the boy. He has been threatening to kill me. He repeatedly says that I am too young and, thus, he must make decisions for me and I must obey — although previous partners chosen by him for my elder sisters turned out to be horrendous mistakes that he sometimes........

© Dawn (Magazines)