Local media outlet, The Sun, is reporting that police, along with a well-known community activist, were able to stop a child marriage between an 11-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man yesterday afternoon in Penang, four hours outside of Kuala Lumpur. The two individuals are members of the Rohingya community.
Leading the bid to stop the arrangement was K. Sudhagaran Stanley, one of the founders of a private school for Rohingya children in Prai. Having been told of the plans to wed the man and child, he contacted a senior Sun reporter, and the two went to a nearby police station to lodge a report.
Officers were quick to react, immediately assigning a case officer, who promptly contacted religious authorities relevant in the matter. A patrol car was sent to the event’s location, and officers reported that a large wedding feast seemed to be underway. Speaking to authorities, the young girl’s father confirmed that the marriage took place the day prior, saying that the food and revelry were to celebrate the union.
Asked why he would willingly marry his child to an adult man, he said that the decision was financially motivated: “It is within our culture and my future son-in-law has promised to be a dutiful husband to my daughter,” he is reported to have said.
Investigators have confirmed that while a community solemnization ceremony had taken place, the union was not endorsed by any authorities or relevant officials.
“It may be a practice and culturally accepted but it is morally wrong in this modern age,” community activist Stanley told The Sun.
“And you should respect Malaysian customs as you are living in Malaysia where such acts are regarded with contempt.”
Furthering his point on the matter, he suggested that refugees refusing to comply with local custom should be repatriated back to Myanmar.
One Rohinghya community leader explained that there was a disparity between ratio of male to adult females, saying it was “logical” for the men to opt for child brides.
After three hours of deliberation, the girl’s father agreed to allow his daughter to continue schooling, and postpone the union until she turned 18.
Malaysian religious authorities are now investigating the matter.
Child marriage has not been far from Malaysia’s headlines over the last few months, after news of a 43-year-old Kelantan man taking an 11-year-old child bride made waves. While the marriage was ultimately proved to be unauthorized by local officials, it raised the issue of the loopholes that exist, along with the relative community acceptance/ambivalence, that allows for grown men to “marry” children.
