Investigation launched over 'child marriages'

An 11-year-old Malaysian girl was taken to hospital in a state of shock after allegedly being abducted by a man who persuaded her parents to let him marry her, an official said today.

She is one of two recent cases of suspected child marriages in Malaysia, where girls under the age of 16 need special permission from Islamic courts in Malaysia, a majority Muslim country. But approval is not commonly granted.

Recent reports of young girls being married off to men in northern Kelantan state made headlines.

Yesterday, Women’s Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said action should be taken against the 41-year-old who allegedly wanted to marry the 11-year-old without getting special court permission. She called it a “reckless and irresponsible act”.

The girl was found abandoned near a mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur late last week.

She was in a state of shock and has been taken to hospital for a medical checkup, said a ministry official.

Kelantan police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi said he could not immediately comment and Kuala Lumpur police in charge of the case could not immediately be reached for further details. It is not clear what happened to the girl.

The girl’s mother was quoted by local newspapers today as saying that the family decided to marry off the girl last month after the man, allegedly a religious group leader, persuaded them.

He and nine others picked up the girl from her home on February 20, claiming they would get the marriage registered. The family lodged a police report the next day after the man failed to return with the child as promised, The Star quoted the mother as saying.

The authorities are probing another reported case – of a 10-year-old marrying a 40-year-old man. No details are known, the ministry official said.

Sisters in Islam, a group of Muslim women activists, has called for an end to child marriages, calling them an “unacceptable practice” that endangers children.