PARLIAMENT | Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail wants all relevant agencies to provide accurate, latest and comprehensive statistics on child marriage to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

Currently, she said, statistics on child marriage were compiled by various agencies, including those under the Home Ministry and the Syariah Judicial Department (JKSM), as well as by the respective states.

“The (Women, Family and Community Development) ministry has obtained statistics on child marriage among Muslims from JKSM and among non-Muslims from the National Registration Department (NRD).

"Realising that the statistics on child marriage are now with several different agencies, such as KDN and JKSM, and also in the states, I really hope that all the relevant agencies could work together with the ministry so that we can have a data network and statistics that are accurate, latest and comprehensive,” she said.

Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said this when winding-up the debate on the motion of thanks on the speech by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V on behalf of the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She said the ministry had two different data on underage marriage, the first involving 968 people between the age of 12 and 20, and the other, involving 212 people between the age of 12 and 17, who got married to adults.

“In this matter, the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), JKSM and NRD have taken the initiative to consolidate the data on marriage and divorce for future use,” she added.

The ministry, she said, welcome the various suggestions from various quarters, including to set the minimum age for marriage to 18 and introduction of a law on legal age for marriage.

In another development, Wan Azizah said the ministry would work with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to monitor advertisements on maid service through the social media and advised the public to lodge a report if they were to find anything dubious about it.

The public could do so by calling Talian Kasih at 15999, she added.

- Bernama