A 41-year-old man took the 11-year-old daughter of an impoverished employee as his third wife.
Che Abdul Karim, the self-proclaimed imam of Kampung Lalang village in Kuala Betis, Malaysia, reportedly travelled to the border town of Sungai Golok in southern Thailand to wed the child last month.
The girl’s cash-strapped Thai parents are rubber tappers who work for Mr Karim, who has children aged five to 18 by his first two wives, according to The Borneo Post.
The underage bride has never been to school and is a friend of one of Mr Karim’s children, according to The Post.
The child’s full name has been published in some Thai and Malaysian media but news.com.au has chosen to refer to her by her nickname, Ayu, because of her age.
Mr Karim’s second wife told The Star Online that she confronted him after photographs of the ceremony were sent to her by his first wife, 41.
She said he had previously “assured both wives that he would never marry a child” and initially dismissed the pictures as having been photoshopped.
After learning the truth the second wife posted the images to social media on June 29.
She added that she could “no longer stand” her husband and that both she and Mr Karim’s first wife planned to divorce him.
Source: News
