Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs has shot down calls to ban underage marriage, despite an uproar over the recent wedding of a 14-year-old Muslim school girl.
Siti Maryam Mahmod wed 23-year-old teacher Abdul Manan Othman last weekend in a mass wedding at a major mosque, after being given permission in an Islamic Sharia court. Malaysian Muslims below the age of 16 are allowed to marry as long as they obtain the permission of the religious courts.
Sharia law runs in parallel with civil law in the multi-ethnic country. However, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the Government has no plan to review laws allowing for underage marriages because the practice is permitted under Islam. [Daily Express - Sabah Publishing House] Read more [via National Secular Society]
