A Malaysian man
charged with raping a 14-year-old girl has avoided prison after he
married her in a case that has sparked anger from rights groups and
calls for a ban on child marriage and justice for victims of sexual
violence.
Ahmad Syukri Yusuf, 22,
was charged with statutory rape of the girl late last year and faced up
to 30 years in jail and whipping for the offence, but he later married
the teenager under Islamic law, according to prosecutor Ahmad Fariz Abdul Hamid.
The
prosecutor said a court in Kuching, in Malaysia's eastern state of
Sarawak ruled there was no need to proceed with the case after Ahmad
Syukri submitted a marriage certificate and the girl withdrew the
complaint.
"It is very common for rapists to marry their survivors, especially when they are underage, to cover up their crime," Kuala Lumpur-based Women's Aid Organisation spokeswoman Tan Heang Lee told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"There
is usually a high risk in this kind of cases that these girls will be
subject to a lifetime of sexual abuse. Her marriage is basically an
extension to rape," she added.
Under
Malaysia's civil laws, the legal minimum age for marriage is 18 but
Muslim girls who are under 16 can obtain permission to marry from
Islamic courts.
Ethnic Malays, who are Muslim, make up about 60 percent of the country's 30 million population.
There
are about 16,000 girls in Malaysia who were married before their 15th
birthday, according to Human Rights Watch citing the latest available
government statistics in 2010.
Globally, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18 each year according to campaign group Girls Not Brides.
Ann
Teo, vice-president of the Kuching-based Sarawak Women for Women
Society, said accused rapists should be prevented from marrying their
victims.
"It sends a message a person will be
freed from his charge if he enters into this kind of marriage of
convenience with the girl," Teo said.
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