“41-year-old man wanted to marry child bride since she was 7,” Pattaya One, July 17, 2018 (thanks to Paul):
PETALING JAYA: The 41-year-old man who took an 11-year-old girl as his wife denied that it was an act of lust as he had wanted to marry her since she was seven.
BH Online reported the man saying that they would already moved in together if he only married her because of desire, instead of waiting five years for her to turn 16.
The 41-year-old said he was unsure what made him feel like marrying the girl, but claimed it was not driven by desire.
“I knew Ayu since she was small because we were neighbours, and I also taught her Al-Quran lessons. It was then I told myself one day I will take this girl as my wife and I did so four years later,” he said.
The man told BH Online that his marriage to the girl in Kelantan had only shocked the outside world, as most of the villagers and his friends had agreed to the union.
He said he had showed his friends a picture of the girl while he was in Mecca and they gave their blessings as she was not in school and had come from a poor family….
The man had refused to give in to public pressure to have the marriage annulled.
Source: Jihad Watch