Malacca earlier announced that the state would open a special school for Muslim girls who become pregnant out of wedlock, a move that also came under fire from rights groups.
“This is a knee-jerk reaction, and such policies should not be carved out by state religious authorities but the federal Ministries of Women, Education and Health,” Josiah said.
Malaysian Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said that underage marriage was “morally and socially unacceptable.”
The number of underage pregnancies in Malaysia rose to 111 in the first four months of this year from 107 in 2008, according to government numbers.
UN data showed that in 2006, the latest for which numbers are available, the rate per 1,000 births was 12 in Malaysia compared with 52 per 1,000 in Indonesia.
Recent cases of babies being abandoned by their unwed mothers have led the Malaysian government to set up its first baby “hatch,” where mothers can drop off unwanted children anonymously.
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