Elopement is an alternative form of marriage practice in Pakistan other than love and arranged marriage. It is ratio has been increasing under the male dominated structure where the head of the family is entitled to select a spouse for their children. Youngsters have no say in selecting their spouse or companion. At times they make decision to escape to espouse their chosen companion without informing their parents which is known as eloped marriage. This paper is enclosed under qualitative research, which aimed to identify or highlight the factors and reasons behind elopement. What kind of impact this marriage has on an eloped couple’s forthcoming life and what type of consequences they have to face after marriage? We also aim to analyze that are factors and reasons of elopement differ based on geographical location? Therefore the sample for interviews was taken from multicultural city Lahore and half were taken from Haveli, Azad Kashmir. In depth interviews sample was (n=8) 3 females and 5 males. Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to investigate the collected information. The results reveals that endogamy, social structure, media, parental disapproval and siblings’ influence are factors and reasons which initiate the thought of elopement in young individuals. Marriage by elopement becomes a source of damage to the social status of the couple especially for women. As a consequence the women and their families are publicly perceived as dishonorable and characterless.

Key Words: Elopement, Marriage, Endogamy