Malaysia investigates the marriage of a man with an 11-year-old girl



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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities are investigating the marriage between an 11-year-old Thai woman and a 41-year-old Muslim male from Malaysia, including elements of possible "sexual intercourse". In the case, Deputy Prime Minister said Monday

the case has sparked public outrage and widespread calls for married children to be banned in the predominantly Muslim country.

Che Abdul Karim Che Abdul Hamid He thought he had secretly married the girl – a Thai girl who lives with her parents in Malaysia – as her third wife in Thailand, and the union became public after one of her wives filed a complaint with the police

. The legal age of marriage of 16 years can be married with the consent of the Sharia court and their parents in Malaysia. Muslim men in Malaysia can marry four wives.

Thai law sets the legal minimum age for marriage at 17, although courts may allow marriage for younger ones if there is a proper reason. The reasons, however, are not defined in the law.

Although the marriage provoked outrage on social media among Thais, Thai government spokesmen said they were unaware of the case. there was no marriage registration in Malaysia and no evidence for the moment that it had occurred. She said that such a marriage would be invalid because the consent had not been requested nor given by the Shariah Court of Malaysia.

"My officers work with other local enforcement agencies to further investigate this case.This includes when there are elements of sexual grooming between the man and this girl before the supposed marriage.It is an offense "criminalized last year, said Wan Azizah at a press conference.

Photos on social networks showed that the groom was holding the girl's hand after the wedding ceremony. According to Malaysian media reports, Che Abdul Karim, also an imam in a rural village in northeastern Kelantan, already has two women and six children aged between 5 and 18 years old.

He told Sunday at the Bernama agency that his marriage was legal. has been approved by the girl's parents, who are Thai citizens who live and work in Kelantan as rubber tappers. He said that he would formalize marriage in Malaysia only when the girl turns 16 and she stays with her parents until then. The girl has also been quoted by local media as saying that she loves Che Abdul Karim because he is a good man

"The consent of a child under 12 years of age Is not a consent "according to the law, said Wan Azizah. The deputy prime minister said that an initial investigation had shown that the girl, who was not going to school, was being courted twice, and that her mother had told the man that She was too young and had requested that the wedding be consumed 16. She said that the man had promised to help the family financially.

The government will send doctors to examine the girl and provide him with advice to help him cope, said Wan Azizah. She added that the minimum legal age of marriage was set at 18 years, including strict conditions before sharia courts could give consent to marry her, she added.

shocking and a Malaysian Human Rights Commission has expressed concern that allowing child marriage in the name of religion could "cover pedophiles and sexual predators of children . "

Malaysian children marry in 2010 and are demanding laws criminalizing child marriage to protect minors.

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Associate press writer Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.

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