THE police have completed investigations into the marriage of the 41-year-old Kelantanese to an 11-year-old Thai national and has handed the papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

DSP Soraja Egamparam, the D11 unit head at Bukit Aman, however, declined to say when investigations were completed.

She said further action would be announced by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.

Che Abdul Karim Che Abdul Hamid, 41, who works as a rubber scrap dealer in Gua Musang, had taken an 11-year-old girl as his third wife.

The solemnisation of the marriage took place in southern Thailand on June 18.

The man was fined RM1,800 last week by the Gua Musang shariah court for solemnising a marriage and polygamy without obtaining the court’s permission.

News of the child bride broke after Karim’s second wife highlighted the marriage on social media.

Activists have called for Karim to be charged under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act for, among other offences, child grooming.

Penalties include prison sentences of up to 15 years and no fewer than two strokes of the cane.

Soraja, who heads the D11 unit which investigates sexual crimes against women and children, added that evidence collected had included medical check-ups.

“Every angle and every area of the investigation has been conducted by the police and the paper has been handed to the A-G,” Soraja said at the International Malaysia Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

“So if you want to talk about grooming and other offences, it has to be investigated. We are listening to rumours. We are listening to all sorts of (information and alleged offences) on social media that he has committed himself, saying that ‘I’m interested in marrying a seven-year-old child.’”

On enforcement against child pornography, Soraja told participants that the police do not monitor pornography websites.

“What we do is gain information (on perpetrators). How we do it is by using our counterparts at MCMC (Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission) and others to gain information before we further our investigations.”

“We do not monitor the websites for porn but we have a tool to gain information on peer-to-peer sharing before we conduct arrests or seize anything.”

She added that conviction rates for sexual crimes against children are low due to families withdrawing cases.

“Up to 80% of sexual cases are family-related, involving step fathers, or brothers. Sometimes the family would write in to the A-G to withdraw the case. Sometimes the family withheld evidence.” – August 16, 2018.