Social activist stops marriage of child bride in Prai
A social activist in Penang has called on the government to speed up the process to ban child marriages, claiming he stopped one in Prai on Wednesday.
On Feb 6, Stanley Sudhagaran received a tip-off that an 11-year-old female child was about to be married off by her parents to a 21-year-old man at midnight.
According to Stanley, the marriage was to take place in Prai in a family home, conducted by an unauthorised religious leader from the Rohinga community.
"I immediately decided to intervene and made a police report in Prai...
Apart from your commitment to helping others, Stanley Sudhagaran, you are one really brave young man. From your name it appears that you are an Indian Christian, yet you were daring enough to go into a strange, possibly hostile Muslim situation to rescue a 11-year old girl from the ravages of child-marriage. The guests had arrived, the wedding ceremony almost concluded, anything could have happened, yet you hanged in there to protect the child. You sigh in relief and say that this story has a happy ending. Maybe. Maybe not. You can now expect the accusations to start rolling in and this episode has all the necessary ingredients for those who want a cause – yes, a Christian interfering in a Muslim event. While I compliment you on what you did, I would suggest you always look back over your shoulder. Be especially wary of black SUVs in a convoy.
Stanley, you are a true champion. Keep up the good work.
This young man has a better moral compass , courage, long term vision and conviction than quite a number of our people in power. Thank the stars that he is not a cowardly politician masquerading as a Minister. Well done Stanley. One day this girl might be eternally grateful to you.
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