More men will use child marriages as a way to escape punishment once the Sexual Offences against Children Act comes into force, warned Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching.

This is because the new law is more stringent, with Section 15(a) of the proposed Act stating that touching any part of a child's body sexually is an offence, punishable with up to 20 years' imprisonment, and possible whipping.

"If we don't ban child marriages, after this law is enforced, we will see child marriages increasing, because for the (perpetrators) to get away they will get married (to the victim)," Teo said at a press conference in the Parliament media room today.

She was commenting on Tasek Gelugor MP Shabudin Yahaya's remarks yesterday defending child marriages as legal, including those between a rapist and his victim.

Teo, however pointed out that if the would-be husband was imprisoned for statutory rape, or any other punishment, the girl would be abandoned.

"Do you think the marriage will work? If the husband goes to jail and the girl stays with her in-laws, do you think she will be in good hands?

"If the court decides not to punish him, it's letting the rapist escape scot-free. So no way is marriage a solution for rape," she said.

She then thanked cabinet members Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Nazri Abdul Aziz for reportedly being against Shabudin's views, and urged them to raise the matter of child marriages to the cabinet.

She said a parliament select committee should also be set up to review child marriages, to determine if they are actually of any good to girls.

Meanwhile, PAS Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan concurred with Shabudin that legally, there is nothing to prevent a rape victim from marrying her rapist.

However he disagreed with Shabudin's view that rape can be remedied through marriage.

"We can't forbid it, if say parents agree that their child be married to a rapist, but if that happened to my daughter, I would not allow (her to marry a rapist).

"That person has ruined our child, surely we won't let him marry (our child) no matter what the reason, that is unacceptable," Takiyuddin told reporters when met at Parliament.

At a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Muhyiddin Yassin also said that marrying rape victims to their rapists would give the wrong message.

"Some people may misunderstand that to solve the social problem, they do it, then get married to legitimise their act," Muhyiddin said.

As for Gerakan youth chief Tan Keng Liang, paedophiles and rapists should be punished, not rewarded,

"Such paedophiles should be severely punished and not be rewarded with the marriage to the underaged victim.

"The only certainty from the marriage of a rapist with his underaged victim, would be endless suffering for the victim," Tan said in a statement today.