Indon politician dumps teen bride when "SHE DIDN'T BLEED"

Aceng Fikri, the embattled head of Garut district in West Java, could walk away from fraud charges related to his four-day marriage to Fani Oktora based on a 1990 Supreme Court ruling on a similar case.

An investigator at the National Police headquarters said on Sunday that based on legal precedent set by the 1990 ruling, which related to a similar case involving a public official, Aceng would likely be able to walk away from the charges.

The investigator, who wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the case, was referring to a past case involving a Medan city administration official, Radja, which took place in North Sumatra in 1983.

Radja was accused by a 21-year-old woman named Bunga of fraud and extra-marital sexual relations with an underage woman. Bunga made the accusation and reported Radja to the police after he broke his promise to marry her after the two had sexual relations.

Radja denied the charges, saying that it was a consensual sexual relation.

The Medan District Court then sentenced Radja to three months in prison for extramarital sexual relations with an underage woman but disregarded the charge of fraud.

However Judge Bismar Siregar of the North Sumatra High Court dropped the extramarital relations charge, arguing that Bunga was not underage based on the law.

The existing law rules that the minimum age for a woman to marry is 16, or lower if she has permission from her parents.

Instead, Bismar convicted Radja of fraud, sentencing him to three years in prison. The now-former judge said that Radja was proven to have lied to Bunga and her parents regarding his marital status.

Like Aceng, who told Fani Oktora that he was a widower while he was still married, Radja also lied to Bunga about his marital status.

However the Supreme Court revoked the verdict in 1990.

“At that time, Bismar’s verdict was too controversial, and the Supreme Court annulled it. This decision has become the precedent for similar cases until today,” the investigator said.

Aceng has faced mounting pressure to resign from his position and be held accountable after the district head made disparaging comments about his then-divorced 17-year-old bride Fani Oktora. Aceng told reporters that he divorced the girl via text message four days after their unregistered wedding because he doubted she was actually a virgin. He later complained that the wedding cost him Rp 250 million ($26,000).

“Even sleeping with an artist doesn’t cost that much,” he told the magazine. “After I bought her, I found out that she was ‘not as advertised,’ so I returned her.”

Fani subsequently filed a domestic abuse complaint, alleging that her former husband sent her threatening text messages and psychologically abused her.

On Sunday the National Police said they were still gathering evidence.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said Aceng faces charges of libel, fraud and “unpleasant acts” under the penal code.

Meanwhile, the Garut Legislative Council has formed a committee to investigate claims of legal and ethical impropriety stemming from the man’s four-day marriage to a teenage girl.

-thejakartaglobe.com