KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Fresh investigations into the rape of a 13-year-old in Kedah, that was thwarted by her marriage to her alleged rapist, will be renewed, Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail said today.

Gani said the probe will be based on the girl’s initial police report on July 15 last year, in which she alleged that she was gang-raped by three youths, one of whom she later married and divorced.

“I have ordered the investigations t be reopened due to public interest. I have to take public interest into account as well,” Gani was quoted as saying at his office in Putrajaya today, in a report by news portal The Malaysian Insider.

It was previously reported that the youth, now aged 20, had been charged with the gang rape last year along with another unnamed individual.

He was subsequently given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal after the victim, then his wife, refused to testify against him in court.

Earlier, Gani said the existing dossier on the case only contained statements from four individuals, prompting him to insist on additional interviews and information.

“I have given the police a week to obtain the additional information which I am looking for. Then I will study the findings of the investigating officer before making a decision,” he said.

According to previous reports, the other youth charged in the case was subsequently convicted and sent for detention at a juvenile rehabilitation centre in Paya Terubong, Penang.

A third youth remains at large.

The case had drawn widespread condemnation from women’s groups, who said the case highlighted legal loopholes that could allow rapists to escape prosecution.

The case gained renewed attention after news spread that the 20-year-old had divorced the teen just a year after marrying her and escaping conviction.