KUALA LUMPUR: More than 12,000 people are petitioning for an end to child marriages in Malaysia through a signature campaign on change.org.
The drive registered after the marriage of a 41-year-old man to a 11-year-old Thai girl which became viral, seeks to move the government and its cabinet to end marriages of those aged 18 and below - deemed minors under the law.
The campaign, initiated by a Jeffery Seow, quotes a letter from the Sisters in Islam published on a newsportal earlier this year, affirming that there was no minimum age for Muslims to marry.
It cited that the minimum age for the marriage of non-Muslims was 18 for boys and girls. However an exception to the rule can be made with the approval of the menteri besar and chief ministers.
“For Muslims, the minimum age for marriage for boys is 18 years and 16 years for girls.
The Syariah court, however, may approve the marriage of a child at any age. This means that by law, there is no minimum age for Muslims,” read the reproduced excerpt on the petition page.
Education lobbyist Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim who is a signatory told the New Straits Times that Deputy Prime Minister Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s first order of business should be instituting a campaign to end child marriages.
“She is the Women, Family and Community Development Minister and should push for laws at the federal and state levels to be amended to make this change.
“This is particularly crucial now as everyone’s focus is now on (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak charged over 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
“People may forget about the girl, already a third wife at 11 and the significance of this case,” she said, drawing on the prerogative of the state in the review of Islamic Family Law Enactments.
The Parent Action Group for Education chair said that Dr Wan Azizah should also get the support of her cabinet and stakeholders such as Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to throw his weight behind the campaign.
“In the interim they can also put their teachers on the watch to check on absenteeism of students to identify such (potential) cases of child marriages before it is too late,” said Azimah.
She also called on the authorities to do a physical and psychological evaluation of the girl in question to ensure that her “husband” had not been grooming her sexually.
The 41-year-old had reportedly stressed that he had not slept with the girl claiming that “they had been in love for the past three years” and that the family living in Gua Musang, Kelantan, had decided on a suspended marriage, meaning that the couple would only live together as man and wife in four years.
Part of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto includes the introduction of a new law, which sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage. Dr Wan Azizah also said that the minimum age for girls to marry might be increased from 16 to 18, as soon as this month, when Dewan Rakyat convenes.
Meanwhile, the Bar Council said it was incumbent upon the government to ensure the healthy development and protection of all children in Malaysia, pursuant to Malaysia’s accession to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
According to the Child Act 2001, which was enacted to fulfil Malaysia’s obligations under the CRC, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18 years. Based on the Syariah Judiciary Department of Malaysia’s statistics and the National Registration Department, there were 6,246 Muslim child marriage applications and 2,775 cases of non-Muslim child marriages from 2010 to 2015.
Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association (PGSM) president Musa Awang said that Syariah judges have wide discretionary powers to consider all relevant factors before deciding whether or not to approve underage marriages.
“The marriages are approved in certain situations whereby the judges make a decision after looking at physical signs showing puberty such as menstruation in the girl, and also the level of maturity in both the child bride and groom to be. Pregnancy may also force their hand,” he said.