Malaysia Sharia Court fined village imam
who married an 11-year-old Thai girl 1,800 ringgit (450 dollars) and sentenced
him to six months in jail, a prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Zaini Sulaiman, from the state sharia
court in north-eastern Kelantan, confirmed the charges to dpa and said the
marriage has been invalidated.
Zaini said that Che Abdul Karim Che
Abdul Hamid, aged 41, had violated Islamic family laws. “That’s why the
punishment imposed is appropriate,” he added.
The rubber scrap dealer, who is said to
have six children from his first two marriages, apparently got married in
Thailand without the consent of his other wives.
The prosecutor had previously told dpa
that the case was being treated as “polygamy without consent.”
According to local media, the girl’s
parents gave consent to the marriage and were present when the marriage took
place at a Thai mosque.
The mother is thought to work for the
imam’s first wife and authorities are investigating whether the parents were
motivated by poverty to marry off their child, The Star news website had
reported previously.
Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, Wan
Azizah Wan Ismail, said last week authorities were investigating “elements
of sexual grooming.”
In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, Muslim
girls below the age of 16 can marry with the consent of their parents and a
sharia court, while Muslim men can have up to four wives.
Wan Azizah and activists have called for
legislation to ban child marriage.
-dpa/NAN
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
