Sabah Women’s Action Resource Group (Sawo) said mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar’s call was in stark contrast to Putrajaya’s plan to raise the minimum age to 18.
“First of all, has he seen or known of evidence that 14-year-old girls are mature and able to take up the heavy responsibilities of being a wife and mother?” Sawo secretary Yasmin Ooi told FMT.
Bungsu was quoted as saying that “some of these children can already be considered mature”.
When contacted by FMT, Bungsu reaffirmed his stand and refused to comment further.
Ooi said Muslim scholars have different opinions on the issue of maturity.
She also said it was not enough that the standard operating procedure (SOP) on shariah judges in allowing child marriage is tightened.
She pointed to a similar case in 2013 where a 40-year-old restaurant manager, who was already married, had applied to marry a 12-year-old at the Kota Kinabalu Shariah Court.
“At the time of his application, he was the alleged rapist of his child bride. We would like to highlight the speed at which the marriage application was approved.
“He has since been found guilty of that rape and was sentenced. To the best of our knowledge, this rape survivor is still married to her rapist, as his second wife.
“Clearly, standard operating procedure, if followed, was not in the best interest of the child,” she said.
Ooi said Bungsu should refer to studies on child marriage including by Unicef which concluded that such a practice harms the child mentally and physically.
“Children need education and married children, particularly, married girls are deprived of it. This reduces her ability to reach her full socio-economic potential, and further traps her family in poverty.
“Education is the only gateway in which one can break the vicious cycle of poverty. Perpetuation of the practice of child marriage halts children’s education and traps generations into a cycle of poverty,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sabah Wanita Umno chief Jainab Ahmad Ayid said the state should increase the minimum age of marriage to at least 18 years for girls.
“Parents should educate their children instead of marrying them off. Furthermore, it is about time that we treat women not as chattel, but as equal partners in marriages,” she said.