ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Non-Muslims can marry only one spouse according to Malaysia’s civil and customary laws, said Sarawak’s Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Fatimah Abdullah.
She was speaking in response to the case of a local man who purportedly married two women at a wedding dinner in Kuching on March 12. Images of the man and two women, all dressed in Chinese wedding costumes at a restaurant, were widely circulated online.
“We have laws governing civil marriage and Muslim marriage, while in Sarawak we also have native customary marriages,” she said.
“According to our legal system, non-Muslims can marry only one spouse in a civil marriage or native customary marriage.”
Fatimah also said she was informed by the National Registration Department (NRD) that the event was not a legal marriage ceremony but a dinner reception.
“I can’t say much as this matter is out of my ministry’s jurisdiction,” she added.
Photos of the wedding dinner showing the groom with two brides have created a stir on social media.
The trio were seen cutting a wedding cake in the images, while another showed the groom linking arms with both brides in matching wedding gowns.
Sin Chew Daily reported that the groom has not been summoned for questioning by police.
The groom is the owner of a kolo mee hawker stall in Kuching, and the two women work with him at the eatery, China Press reported.
Kuching police chief Ahsmon Bajah said the police had not received any reports on the purported wedding.
