In Kelantan's second case of child marriage, the 15-year-old bride involved had "consented to the marriage" with the 44-year-old man, said Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

According to Malay Mail, she said on Wednesday (Sep 19):

"My officers had gone there and investigated, and found that they mutually liked one another and that the girl had consented to the marriage."

Furthermore, the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development clarified that the girl was not the second wife, as the man had already divorced his first wife four years ago.

He has two children from his first marriage.

However, the minister added that they were working to raise the minimum age of marriage from the current 16-years-old to 18-years-old.

According to The Star, the 15-year-old was married off by her family as they did not want their youngest daughter -- out of 13 children -- to continue living in poverty.

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Out of the government's hands

Previously on Tuesday (Sep 18), Wan Azizah said the federal government was unable to intervene in the case as they did not have the jurisdiction to do so, reported Malay Mail.

The 15-year-old and the man 30 years her senior were married by the Syariah court.

Malaysia has a dual justice system in which Syariah courts have jurisdiction in personal law matters, such as marriage.

According to another report by the Malay Mail, the United Nations also acknowledged the Malaysian government's limitations, despite condemning the case.

M'sians calling her out

According to The Star, Wee Ka Siong, Ayer Hitam MP and member of the opposition coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), said in a statement in Thursday (Sep 20) that there will be "a host of consequences" to the statement that Wan Azizah made, "both to her and to [their] society later".

He said:

"I believe child marriage has the potential to undermine the girl's autonomy in all aspects of her life and will continue to be an impediment to improvements in her education, economic and social status."

Latheefa Koya, executive director of human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), called Wan Azizah's statement "unacceptable", reported Free Malaysia Today. 

She said that consensual sex with any child below the age of 16 is regarded as rape in criminal law as a child is "not capable of consent", and that Wan Azizah had failed to look into any pressure or coercion the girl might have been facing before the marriage: 

"The 15-year-old victim needs urgent care, counselling and support.

A public statement from the minister whitewashing the ‘marriage’ does not help the child at all."

Latheefa is also a central executive committe member of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). PKR's president was Wan Azizah up until Aug. 4 when Wan Azizah's husband, Anwar Ibrahim, succeeded her.

Latheefa's view was echoed by many others in the country.

A child, 16 and below, can't give consent. Under our laws it is statutory rape. Let's get our perspective right over child marriages. #EndChildBrides #ChildrenHaveRights

— Maria Chin Abdullah (@mariachin) September 19, 2018

This is extremely disappointing as during the Hari Wanita Kebangsaan event earlier that day, @drwanazizah mentioned raising the national minimum age for marriage to 18, & praised the Selangor state government for leading the way.

Satu langkah ke depan, dua langkah ke belakang. https://t.co/fbWXQLj0wp

— All Women’s Action Society (@AWAMMalaysia) September 20, 2018

Wan Azizah condemned first case in Kelantan

Previously, a 41-year-old Kelantan man had come under fire for marrying an 11-year-old Thai girl.

At that time, Wan Azizah had called the marriage "illegal" as it had not received consent from the Syariah court, adding that they "must be separated", reported The New Straits Times in July this year.

She said then:

"Paedophilia, child exploitation, child pornography...

We must be firm on this as children are our responsibility."

Top image via beritanasionalrtm rasmi/YT