Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has expressed gratitude to Umno lawmaker Khairy Jamaluddin for defending her.

This is after the Rembau MP criticised the headline in a Star Online report regarding child marriages, which he claimed was unfair to Wan Azizah.

“Thank you for practising mature politics and highlighting this issue to the public.

“I remain steadfast in defending the future of children in the issue of child marriages, Insyallah (God willing),” tweeted the deputy premier this evening.

Wan Azizah is also the women, family and community development minister.

Earlier, Khairy took to Twitter to complain about the headline, which read: “Malaysia to allow child marriages to go on, but tighter enforcement.”

He argued that the headline did not reflect Wan Azizah's response to his question in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

“This is misleading and unfair to DPM who answered my question this morning in Parliament.

“She clearly said Malaysia is moving to ban child marriages. Until those laws can be amended, there will be tighter enforcement of said existing laws,” he said.

Khairy's defence of Wan Azizah also won him accolades from her deputy Hannah Yeoh.

“Thank you. Our Malaysian media really need to be more diligent in understanding the issues and more ethical in reporting headlines.

“I have never been this frustrated. Malaysians - read beyond headlines please,” she tweeted.