A 40-year-old Malaysian man who plans to marry a 13-year-old girl he allegedly raped should still face the law, the country's bar association has said.
Bar president Christopher Leong said the statutory rape charge should still stand.
"The two getting married does not resolve the issue of alleged statutory rape by a 40-year-old. We cannot send the wrong message to society that statutory rape is acceptable if the alleged culprit subsequently marries the alleged underage victim," he said yesterday.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the alleged rapist, a restaurant manager, had agreed to marry the teen who then decided to withdraw her accusation against him in a police report.
The man had allegedly raped the girl inside a parked car at a roadside in Inanam, near Kota Kinabalu, in February.
The prosecution had said it had no objection to the case being withdrawn but the man needed to first settle the matter with the Islamic Shariah Court.
"There is a criminal charge here. An accused does not get the privilege of escaping criminal charges by deciding to marry the victim he is accused of raping," said Ratna Osman, executive director of Sisters in Islam, while agreeing that the charge for statutory rape should proceed.
Ratna called on the Shariah Court to reject any application for marriage to a minor under the age of 18, especially since there is a pending criminal charge against the applicant in this case.
