KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - A 14-YEAR-OLD girl and 23-year-old man have celebrated their recent marriage in public in Malaysia's largest city.
Underage unions are allowed but not common in the Muslim-majority country. Women's activist Ivy Josiah said children younger than 18 should never be allowed to marry.
The New Straits Times reported on Sunday the parents arranged the union and the couple married in July after an Islamic court allowed it.
The couple celebrated with others at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The celebration was organised by Kuala Lumpur's Islamic department.
Authorities could not immediately be reached on Sunday.
Underage marriages are allowed with court permission and parental consent for Muslims in Malaysia.
-- AP
too young to marry .may be just a teenage puppy love crush.wasting youth also.
after marriage then dong fang, allowed?
Must be something happened, so shot gun marriage already. I wonder why didn't the guy get charged for pedophilia.
teenage romance...how to last? goodness!!
14 married.
15 pregnant.
16 give birth.
Fast forward.
36 kid married.
37 grandmother
57 grandkid married.
77 great grandmother
Marriage is my right: 14-year-old girl
PETALING JAYA - SITI Maryam Mahmood is standing firm by her decision to get married at a young age.
'Marriage is the right of the individual and I am well-prepared to take up the duties of a wife,' said the teenager, fondly called Maya by her family. 'I have thought about the responsibilities and the consequences of marrying at a young age.
'At the same time, I have my mother to guide me on my marriage and my wifely duties,' she told Mingguan mStar, the weekly Malay news magazine of The Star.
Maya, who got to know her husband, 23-year-old Abdul Manan Othman, early this year when he was giving tuition on religion to her two younger siblings, said both their families were open-minded about the marriage although it had sparked a controversy.
The couple married on Oct 22 but caught public attention only when they took part in a 1Malaysia wedding reception organised by the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) last week.
Maya said she was not forced into the marriage. 'He proposed to me and both our families agreed ... that is the important thing,' she said, refuting suggestions that girls who marry young are denied the opportunity to learn and develop to their full potential because they are 'forced to be adults' through marriage.
-- THE STAR/ANN