Thai child bride returns from Malaysia after outcry
The 11-year-old is said she is undergoing mental health counselling because of the intense level of attention
Malaysian Muslims below the age of 16 are allowed to wed with the permission of religious courts but the union between the girl and the 41-year-old trader went viral on social media and reignited calls to end child marriage.
The ceremony took place in June over the border in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south in Narathiwat province, where the girl returned to Wednesday after “immense pressure from Malaysian media”, the provincial governor Suraporn Prommool said.
The 11-year-old is believed to be the trader’s third wife.
Suraporn said she is undergoing mental health counselling because of the intense level of attention.
He said the marriage was not recognised under Buddhist-majority Thailand’s civil law but it took place under the auspices of an Islamic council in Narathiwat and her parents gave consent.