The Sri Lankan government has been working on a legislation to change the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act in an effort to prevent child marriages among its Muslim community.

In the South Asian country, the marrying age for girls is 18, but for Muslims there is no minimum age under the current law.

Human rights activists have long called for a reform and after nine years of evaluation, the committee responsible for the issue handed its report to the government in late January.

As TRT World’s Natalie Poyhonen reports the move could save lives of many Muslim girls.