Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has stressed that she does not condone child marriages and vowed to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18.

This comes after Wan Azizah, who is also minister of women, family and community development, came under fire for her previous statement that the 15-year-old girl made to marry a 44-year-old divorcee in Kelantan had "consented" to the marriage.

In a statement this morning, Wan Azizah clarified that she was merely repeating a report furnished by her officers from the Welfare Department.

"The report stated that the marriage was sanctioned by the Tumpat Lower Syariah Court and is legal according to current laws.

"I wish to reiterate that I am against child marriage and do not condone it. The best interest of the child must always be considered.

"What I said was just a descriptive statement of what the child explained to my officers," Wan Azizah added.

On reports that poverty drove the girl's parents to marry off their daughter, the youngest of 13 children, to the father-of-two Malaysian Volunteer Force (Rela) member, the minister said, "Marriage should not be used as a way out of poverty".

She said: "As deputy prime minister and minister of women, family and community development, I reiterate that we will raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years."

Meeting with stakeholders

She added that a meeting on the issue had been held with relevant stakeholders last Thursday, at which it had been decided that the following actions would be taken:

•  A paper on raising the marriage age for Muslims will be prepared by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and her ministry;
• The paper will be presented to the meeting of menteris besar and chief ministers to garner support from the states;
• A cabinet paper is also being prepared to raise the minimum marriageable age to 18 for non-Muslims; and
• For customary marriages, the respective customary heads will be informed of the dangers of underage marriages to the health and safety of the child and why a minimum age is important.

Wan Azizah, who is also Pakatan Harapan president, however, cautioned that amending the necessary laws would take time and that a more holistic approach must be adopted, comprising education, welfare nets, poverty eradication and support systems.

As such, she said her ministry would be meeting with the Syariah Judiciary Department to discuss stricter and more thorough guidelines for syariah court judges in approving child marriages, taking into account risk factors of pregnancy and childbirth at such young age.

"I have also spoken to the Minister in charge of Religious Affairs Mujahid Yusof Rawa and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Liew Vui Keong to look at the loopholes and inconsistencies between syariah and civil laws in relation to child marriages.

"I have also instructed my officers to examine current laws to ensure the welfare of children is taken care of.

"The protection and rights of children are of paramount importance to me and I will not compromise on that matter," she added.

This is the second such case to be reported out of Kelantan in recent months.

In the first case, an 11-year-old Thai girl living in Gua Musang became the third wife to a 41-year-old man after marrying the latter in June this year.

The case drew similar criticism from rights activists, politicians and members of the public.

Earlier this month, Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decreed that the marriageable age for Muslim males and females be raised from 16 to 18 years.