KOTA BARU: The marriage between a Malaysian man with an 11-year-old Thai child, four times younger than him six years ago, prompted Thailand to ban children under the age of 17 from marriage.
Narathiwat Islamic Council vice-president Abdul Aziz Che Mamat said Thai authorities implemented the new regulation to prevent a repeat of such an incident.
He said the regulation was issued by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT) the same year the case involving the couple's marriage become a controversy.
"The marriage between the 41-year-old Malaysian man and the 11-year-old Thai girl in 2018 was a blow to Thailand religious authorities especially the council.
"This was the first for the council since it was established 30 years ago.
"Before this, there was no such marriage (involving an 11-year-old girl) taking place in Thailand. This was history for us in Thailand," he told the New Straits Times.
Following the case, Aziz said the Thai religious authority had ordered the couple to undergo 'mufaraqah' (separate living conditions between husband and wife pending the decision of the syariah court).
In 2018,Thailand's Islamic council issued a ban on child marriage nationwide following public anger over the marriage earlier in the year of the 11-year-old child to the man four times her age.
The Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT)'s regulation banned children under the age of 17 from marrying. The ban was was announced at all mosques in Thailand especially the Southern part of the kingdom.
The Sheikhul Islam of Thailand, Aziz Phitakkumpon, who also chairman of CICOT, had approved the new regulation in late November, 2018.
He had said the new regulation ensures local mosques cannot grant permission for marriages involving anyone aged under 17 unless an Islamic court gives permission or the parents sign a document approving the marriage at the provincial Islamic committee office or at the local police station.
He added a special sub-committee was also set up to consider such marriages and give the green light if the marriage benefits the spouses.
In previous reports, the 41-year-old man had said his third marriage with the underage girl was not a case of elopement as they were married with the blessings from the girl's parents who were present during the solemnisation ceremony in Southern Thailand on June 18, 2018.
The girl who lived in Gua Musang before the marriage had sought her parent's permission and they agreed to it on condition it would be a 'nikah gantung' (suspended marriage) and that the man had to wait for another five years before he and the girl could live together as husband and wife.
The man also denied allegations that his first and second wives were seeking a divorce, saying that they never sought such actions and had begun to accept his third wife.
Several photographs of the man marrying the 11-year-old went viral and sparked outrage after the matter was disclosed by his second wife that same year.