PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar has urged the Government to review all laws pertaining to child marriages following the public outrage over the marriage of an 11-year-old Thai girl to a 41-year-old man.
While the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 stipulates that the marriage of non-Muslim children below 16 years of age cannot be legally approved, its president George Varughese pointed out that Muslim children are permitted under Syariah law to be legally married under the discretion of a Syariah courts judge.