SABAH has agreed to set the minimum age for marriage at 18 in the state, but will allow some “exit points”, Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said today.

He said the state cabinet concurred with the age cap, but would allow marriage at 16 with the shariah and civil courts’ consent.

“We discussed this at the (recent) meeting of menteris besar and the chief ministers and we decided that Sabah could concur with that (legal marriageable age of 18).

“There are certain things, however, as I have mentioned, that we have to allow those who want to get married at age 16 in the rural areas, but (they) must get the consent of the shariah and civil courts,” he said at a press conference in Kota Kinabalu, today. 

Child marriage in Sabah is among the highest in the country and is not confined to any particular race. Pregnancy and poverty are cited as the main reasons for its prevalence.

Last month, Sabah mufti Bungsu@Aziz Jaafar sparked outcry when he said the minimum marriage age should be 14 for girls and 16 for boys.

He later said he was referring to special cases compelled by poverty or the inability of rural youth to continue their education.

Sabah looks set to join Penang and Johor in raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 for both boys and girls and regardless of their faith.

So far, only Selangor has made legislative amendments to change the marriage age to 18. 

Almost all the menteris besar and chief minister were briefed on the reasons to raise the minimum age for marriage at a meeting with the prime minister last week.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is reported to have instructed all states to raise the marriageable age to 18 as such laws are under state jurisdiction.

The debate on child marriage surfaced following the marriage of a 41-year-old man with an 11-year-old girl in Gua Musang, Kelantan, in June. –  October 23, 2018.