AS QUARTERS POLITICIZE CHILD MARRIAGES TO HAMMER PARTY RIVALS, HARAPAN MAKES IT CLEAR: ‘WE WILL BAN IT BUT IT CANNOT BE DONE IMMEDIATELY,’ SAYS HANNAH WHILE MUJAHID SAYS EVEN IF ISLAM ALLOWS IT, A BAN IS COMING – THE DELAY BEING AN EXISTING CLAUSE IN STATE LAW & THE TIME NEEDED TO GET IT REMOVED

KUALA LUMPUR 25/07/2018. Hannah Yeoh during Parliament sitting. MALAYMAIL/Azneal Ishak.

PETALING JAYA ― The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government cannot ignore child marriages because the pact had campaigned on resolving the issue, deputy minister Hannah Yeoh asserted.

The DAP MP reiterated her support on raising the floor age of marriage to 18 and expressed concern over the number of child marriages happening in the country over the last decade.

“The way I see it, we have no choice. We have committed to this in our manifesto, we have to work towards that.

“We cannot make excuses,” the deputy minister of women, family and community development told Malay Mail in a recent interview here.

In its election manifesto for the 14th general election, PH had made five special pledges for women. One of them was “ensuring the legal system protects women’s rights and dignity” that included “introducing a law that sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage”.

Yeoh highlighted the “staggering” statistics on child marriage cases her minister has obtained from the Department of Shariah Judiciary Malaysia for Muslims and the National Registration Department for non-Muslims.

Between 2007 and 2017, a total of 10,807 cases were registered for Muslims, with the top three states being Sarawak, Kelantan, and Sabah.

During the same period, there were 4,999 cases for non-Muslims, with the top three states being Sarawak, Johor, and Perak.

“[But] today if you announce a ban, which I fully support, it doesn’t solve the problem immediately. The problem doesn’t go away immediately. We need to know why the numbers are so high.

“We need to prepare the community, especially the cultural marriages, for such a legislation, for a ban,” said the Segambut MP, adding that the public should be educated on the harm of child marriages.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa said Wednesday that the government would introduce more stringent procedures to temporarily curb marriages involving minors pending a permanent solution.

Rodziah Ismail, who is political secretary to women’s minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said recently that while Putrajaya is committed to increasing the minimum age limit of marriage to 18 years, the matter is currently under the jurisdiction of the Islamic laws of each state.

This comes as Dr Wan Azizah said Putrajaya is powerless to nullify the marriage of a 41-year-old man in Kelantan to an 11-year-old girl, as Kelantanese Islamic laws allow children under 16 to get married with the permission of a Shariah Court judge.  – MALAY MAIL

Even if Islam allows, banning child marriages for greater good, Mujahid says

KUALA LUMPUR ― Any move to curb marriages involving girls who are minors is aimed at protecting them from exploitation, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

He said the government also looked at the issue in the long run and the ban on child marriages was due to many cases found to be inclined towards exploitation.

Mujahid said the issue was being discussed by the government to enhance control over child marriages.

“There is a clause ‘with permission of the court’ that is the problem. If we just tighten (the law), it will only be a temporary measure. Even though in Islam, child marriages are allowed, we have to understand that we should take a stance for the sake of the greater public interest, especially for the protection of children,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Mujahid was commenting on a statement by PAS vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah that the government should not ban child marriages because it was allowed in Islam.

Yesterday, Mujahid said the government would draw up a strict standard operating procedure (SOP) for the approval of child marriages by the Shariah Court. ― Bernama

MALAY MAIL / BERNAMA