Another case of child marriage is making headlines this morning, with a 15-year-old girl marrying a 44-year-old father of two in the northeastern state of Kelantan.
The teenager will be the man’s second wife.
According to the girl’s parents, poverty was the driving force when they agreed to marry off their youngest daughter in a family of 13 children to a man who is nearly 30 years her senior.
New Strait Times reports that the girl’s parents run a small sundry shop in the town of Tumpat, taking in only RM200-RM300 (US$48-US$72) a month. They hope that through the union, their daughter will have a better life and not “live in difficulty, as we did.”
Despite only meeting the man a few months before they solemnized their vows two months ago, NST reports that the girl seemed happy with the union. She reportedly left school at 13.
Shariah courts gave permission to the man to take a second wife, and to marry the teenager.
Earlier this year, a “marriage” between a 43-year-old rubber trader, and his 11-year-old third wife made headlines, after the two were able to jump through loopholes by marrying in Thailand, before returning home to Kelantan.
However, the man was found to not have permission from Shariah courts to take a third wife, and was subsequently fined RM1,800. Public outcry followed, wondering why the man was not charged under any of Malaysia’s grooming laws, nor why his bigamy charge was so lenient.
Since the union, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor has since revised his state’s law, and agreed to moving the age of marriage for Muslim males and females from 16 to 18 years old.
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