Girls as young as 9 are “physically, spiritually” ready for marriage – Malaysian lawmaker

A Malaysian lawmaker, Shabudin Yahaya, has said that girls as young as nine are "physically and spiritually" ready for marriage.

This is coming just when the country passed a law on sexual offences against children without criminalizing child marriage.

Legit.ng gathered that the lawmaker, who is a member of the Barisan Nasional coalition, said this during a proposal by an opposition member of parliament to amend the Sexual Offences Against Children bill to include a ban on child marriages.

But the proposal was voted down by the majority of parliament.

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"They reach puberty at the age of nine or 12. And at that time, their body is already akin to them being 18 years old. So physically and spiritually, it is not a barrier for the girl to marry," Shabudin said on Tuesday during a debate on the bill.

Shabudin's comments sparked outrage on social media, with some opposition politicians asking for him to be fired.

He has however addressed the matter, claiming his comments were taken out of context.

Read full story here.

Source: Legit.ng