Take a cue from Kedah, says PM on underage marriage issue

KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has called on other states to follow in Kedah’s footsteps in addressing the issue of underage marriage.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic) said the action plan to address underage marriage is in progress and Kedah has revised its Islamic marriage law to provide protection to the vulnerable groups.

“I hope that this will be followed by other states to ensure that the problem of underage marriage can be resolved,” he said.

On July 18, the Kedah state assembly passed the amendment to the Islamic Family Law (Kedah Darul Aman) Enactment 2022 Bill 2022 regarding the age limit for marriage and polygamy law.

Speaker Datuk Juhari Bulat said the amendment involved raising the age of marriage for women from 16 to 18 years old as well as the punishment for polygamy without court permission.

ALSO READ: Minimum age for women to marry increased to 18 in Kedah, one year jail for polygamy without permission

Ismail Sabri added that the government too will continue to improve and fine tune policies and legislations as well as conducting more gender-sensitive programmes.

It includes the review and renewal of the National Women’s Policy and drafting of gender-sensitive Bills, he said.

“For example, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 was passed with a majority in the Dewan Rakyat on July 20 and the Dewan Negara on Aug 11.

“The anti-stalking Bill has also been tabled for first reading in Dewan Rakyat on Aug 4,” he said at the 60th National Women’s Day Celebration, here, on Thursday (Aug 25).

Also in attendance was the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.