PETALING JAYA, Dec 20 — Women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) said today that the number of applications for child marriages in Terengganu from 2013 to 2018 is clear evidence that "injustice and abuse is being perpetuated in the state”.

SIS said it was alarmed by the Terengganu Shariah Court Chief Judge Wan Mohd Zakri Wan Mohd’s revelation today that there were 444 applications for child marriages between 2013 to 2018, and on top of that, 397 of them were approved.

"According to the Terengganu Shariah Court Department, the applications involved 522 children. SIS is extremely concerned that these numbers tells us that at least 125 of underage marriages in the state involved marriages to spouses who are much older in age.

"We are also worried that more than half of the approved applicants were below the age of 15, with up to 10 applications at the age of 13 approved,” SIS said in a statement.

Despite calls to raise the marrying age throughout the country, Wan Mohd Zakri today said the minimum age limit for Muslims in Terengganu to marry remains at 18 years for men and 16 for women, as stipulated under Section 8 of the Family Law (Terengganu) Enactment 2017.

However, he said the court will not easily allow applications for underage marriages except for three factors, namely if the girl had delivered a child, was pregnant, or the couple had pre-marital sex.

Reacting further to Wan Mohd Zakri’s comments, SIS said it was surprised that the department had approved applications simply on the basis that the couple was "in love” and that the child "wanted” to marry, involving 252 applications.

"We strongly believe that the court has an obligation to ensure that the needs, rather than the wants, of the child is prioritised, and the primary need for all children should be education,” it said.

It added that it was alarmed by Wan Mohd Zakri’s claim that 20 applications were approved in order to alleviate the "burden of the family”, 11 because the child had dropped out of school and experienced personal issues and one because of rape.

These cases, it said, indicated that the child may have been forced into marriage and was unwillingly exposed to harm.

Moreover, SIS pointed out that the Shariah chief judge had also claimed that 72 applications were approved because of pregnancy out of wedlock, and that 39 applications were approved on the basis that the child had previously had sex.

"We find this to be a dangerous trend as it side-lines the serious issue that sex (consensual or not) with an underage child is considered a statutory rape crime in our country, and that the adult perpetrator is allowed to bypass the law simply by marrying his victim.

"It is important that the court protects children who are unable to understand the meaning of consent and the harms associated with sex, especially when coaxed by a much older person,” SIS said.

SIS also said it was dismayed that the Wan Mohd Zakri intends to allow underage marriages to continue in the state despite clear evidence of harm and danger to the child.

It urged the Terengganu Shariah Court Department to prioritise both the education and protection of children by raising the age of marriage for all children in the state to 18 years with no exceptions.