Six years ago, a Malaysian man married an 11-year-old Thai child who was four times his junior in age. This marriage led Thailand to outlaw marriages between minors under the age of 17.

Abdul Aziz Che Mamat, vice-president of the Narathiwat Islamic Council, stated that the new restriction was put in place by Thai authorities in order to stop a recurrence of the occurrence.

According to him, the Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT) released the regulation the same year that the couple's marriage became the subject of debate.

According to the New Straits Times, the 2018 marriage of the 41-year-old Malaysian man to the 11-year-old Thai girl was a setback for the religious authorities in Thailand, particularly the council.

Since the council was founded thirty years ago, this was its first.

"This marriage, which involved an 11-year-old girl, had never before occurred in Thailand. For us in Thailand, this was historic," he told the New Straits Times.

After the case, according to Aziz, the Thai religious authorities had mandated that the husband and wife live apart while awaiting the Syariah court's ruling, or "mufaraqah."

In response to public outrage over the 11-year-old girl's marriage to a man four times her age earlier in the year, Thailand's Islamic council banned child marriage nationally in 2018.

According to a ruling of the Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT), minors under the age of 17 are not allowed to marry. All Thai mosques, particularly those in the southern region of the country, were informed of the restriction.

Late in November 2018, the new regulation was authorized by Aziz Phitakkumpon, the head of CICOT, and Sheikhul Islam of Thailand.

He stated that the new rule guarantees that local mosques cannot approve weddings involving anybody under the age of 17 unless an Islamic court approves them or the parents sign marriage approval paperwork at the local police station or the provincial Islamic committee office.

He also mentioned that a special subcommittee had been established to examine these unions and approve them if it would be advantageous to both partners.

According to earlier reports, the 41-year-old man claimed that his third marriage to the minor was valid since the girl's parents, who were present for the solemnization ceremony on June 18, 2018, gave their blessing.

Before the marriage, the girl had resided in Gua Musang. She asked her parents for permission, and they granted it under the terms of a "nikah gantung," or suspended marriage, in which the man would have to wait an additional five years to live with the girl as his spouse.

The guy refuted claims made by others that his first and second wives were considering divorce, stating that they had already started to accept his third wife.

When the man's second wife revealed the marriage to the 11-year-old the same year, several pictures of the couple went viral and provoked uproar.

Source: New Straits Times