One of two underaged girls who had been married off to older men was found last night at a mosque near Batu Caves, Selangor.

The mother of Siti Nur Zubaidah Hussin, 11, told Bernama today that an unknown caller contacted her around 6:30pm yesterday and told her he had found Nur Zubaidah at the al-Ikhwan mosque in Taman Samudera.  

Siti Sarnan Mat Ail, 42, said she had at first doubted the veracity of the caller's claim to have found her daughter, given the distance between Batu Caves and her home in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

"But it was when I was able to speak to my daughter (herself) that I believed what I was told," said Sarnan.

Sarnan said she immediately called a relative who lives near Batu Caves to pick up Nur Zubaidah.

"My elder cousin found Siti Nur Zubaidah in a state of weakness and brought her to the Kepong police station to report that she had been found before bringing her to the Sungai Buloh Hospital to be treated," she said.

Gombak district police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah confirmed the child was found in a semi-conscious state at the Al-Ikhwan mosque by her uncle at about 7.15 pm yesterday.

Sarnan said Nur Zubaidah is stable and still at the hospital, but refuses to talk as she is still traumatised over her ordeal.

"Perhaps she is still weak and in trauma after being kidnapped by that man and taken to Selangor. I cannot wait to see my daughter, as I have not seen her for the past 20 days since she disappeared," she said.

Sarnan said she will be travelling to Selangor with her husband today to fetch Nur Zubaidah. 

Nur Zubaidah was married off by her father Hussin Mat Salleh, 54, to one Shamsuddin Che Derahman, 41, after reportedly being fooled into thinking the act was in practice with the way of Prophet Muhammad.

Kelantan's Islamic family laws stipulates the minimum age of marriage for women to be 16 years, 18 for men. Sarnan lodged a police report over the matter on February 25.

Another girl, aged ten, was said to have been married to a 30-year old man in Pasir Mas, also in Kelantan. 

Following newspaper reports of the incidence, rights groups and activists had called for those who married underaged girls to be charged .

They also called for a review of Islamic family laws to bring them in line with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Malaysia ratified in 1995.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was reported to have questioned the occurance and motivation behind such marriages.

Religious officials in Kelantan, meanwhile, are investigating whether the marriages had been authorised by the Islamic authorities.

Kelantan Syariah chief judge Daud Mohammad said Muslims in the state who wanted to marry an underage girl had to seek permission or an exemption from a state Islamic marriage official.

He said it was illegal to marry a girl under the age of 16 without approval from state religious officials. Offenders are liable to a fine and six months' jail.

'Husband' has disappeared  

Meanwhile, the first wife of Shamsuddin, identified only as Rohana, 33, said her husband had not called her or informed her of anything.

"I do not know where my husband has disappeared. I have been looking for him. I'm thankful that Siti Nur Zubaidah has been found," said Rohana.

Meanwhile, Sarnan said she hopes that members of the public who had have seen Shamsuddin - who drove her husband's white Proton with registration number BEF 7599 - to call the nearest police station.   

She expressed gratitude that her daughter had been found and urged for the police to arrest the man concerned to prevent other children from falling victim.