Hubby of child bride feels relieved after toilet scare

KOTA BARU: The 44-year-old Rela member, who married a 15-year-old girl, lodged a police report last week, thinking that his young bride had run away.

But he was glad to learn that she was safe at her mother’s house in Tumpat.

The groom said he feared the worst when he lost sight of her on board a train during a stop at the Pasir Mas station.

“She went to the toilet but did not return. “I was frantically looking for her for three days,” he said.

The child bride claimed she did not run away while travelling by train with her husband from Tumpat to Gua Musang last Sunday.

“When the train stopped, I went to the bathroom. When I came out, the train had left.

“I did not know what to do. Luckily, someone offered to send me to my mother’s house.

“But I will be returning to his house in Gua Musang soon,” she said.

The girl, who stopped schooling after Form One, said she was happily married since July last year, despite the public outcry over child marriage.

She was married off as a second wife to the older man because her parents did not want her to continue living a hard life.

The girl’s sister hoped the media would stop hounding them.

“Please respect our privacy. There is no issue now. They are back together,” said her elder sister.

The girl is the youngest of 13 children. Separately, Wanita MCA has urged the government to categorise child marriage as a criminal offence under federal law.

Its chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie said irrespective of race or religion, child marriage must be strictly prohibited as a way to demonstrate the nation’s determination to defend children’s safety and rights.

“We support any proposal to render child marriage a criminal offence under federal law, either in Section 611 of the Child Act 2001, Section 792 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 or in the Penal Code.

“Safeguarding children’s safety and rights is the common social responsibility of everyone and the common mission for all of us,” she said in a statement.

Heng also hit out at Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in handling the issue of child marriage cases in Kelantan, adding it was “regrettable and disappointing” as the government had not increased the legal marriage to 18.

Heng said a country must not have two legal systems, especially in dealing with matters related to the safeguarding of basic rights and interests of minor children.

“Violations against minor children have far-reaching implications and thus, legislation and enforcement must not be delayed anymore,” she said.