THE rubber trader who married an 11-year old girl was fined RM1,800 for marrying without approval and getting into a polygamous marriage without consent by a Kelantan Shariah Court today.
Gua Musang shariah judge Mohd Surbaineey Hussain fined the accused of RM900 for each offence after the Kelantanese pleaded guilty to both charges.
The New Straits Times reported that Che Mohd Karim Che Hamid was charged under Section 19 and Section 24 of the Kelantan Islamic Family Enactment 2002, which carries a maximum RM1,000 fine or two months jail.
Section 19 states that no marriage can be solemnised without permission from the registrar or a shariah judge, while Section 124 prohibits polygamy without the court’s permission.
News of the child bride broke after Mohd Karim’s second wife highlighted his marriage to the girl, his third wife, last month.
The 34-year-old second wife, Effa, had threatened divorce.
“Better than having our children suffer seeing their friend become their mother,” she wrote on Facebook.
However, children’s rights activists have demanded that the government step in to investigate the marriage, and to review existing marriage laws to better protect children.
The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) said this must be done by raising the marriageable age to 18.
It said Muslim-majority countries that have raised the minimum age of marriage include Algeria (19), Bangladesh (18 for women and 21 for men), Morocco (18) and Turkey (18).
“The solemnisation of the marriage, which allegedly took place in Thailand, also demonstrates loopholes in our legal system that can be taken advantage of by men to take on more wives without the consent of their wives,” JAG had said in a statement.
JAG comprises All Women’s Action Society, Association of Women Lawyers, Justice for Sisters, Perak Women for Women, Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor, Sisters in Islam, Women’s Aid Organisation and the Women’s Centre for Change.
According to JAG, this marriage did not nullify the fact that sexual relations with a child below 16 years is statutory rape.
It also said that child marriage placed obstacles on a girl’s formal education as there would be expectations that she should take care of the household and start a family.
JAG said the marriage violated Articles 3 and 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which outlined that the interests of the child be the primary consideration in any action by the authorities. – July 9, 2018.
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