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(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 17, 2012 ) Dallas, TX -- 40-year-old Aceng Fikri, head of the district of Garut in West Java Indonesia, reportedly divorced his 17-year-old wife, Fani Oktara, via text message and a legal war has ensued on both sides.
Fikri sent his now ex-wife a text message outlining their divorce after he discovered that Oktara was not a virgin, according to his lawyer Ujang SujaÂ’l. FikriÂ’s actions have not only sparked protests around West Java, but has also caused Oktara to pursue her own charges against her ex-husband.
Oktara’s lawyer, Danny Suliwisjaya, has reported that the the 17-year-old will be sueing Fikri for “spreading baseless accusations,” and that his client was unlawfully tricked into marrying the prominent politician. According to Suliwisjaya, Fikri was already married with kids at the time of the wedding and while polygamy is not illegal in Muslim law, Indonesian civil servants are not allowed by law to marry multiple women.
The public protests for FikriÂ’s resignation began when Oktara went to the police on Monday and filed charges of falsifying marital status, fraud, defamation, and unpleasant content against her former husband. So far, no charges have been officially brought to the local politician, but the reports are still under investigation by the police.
Oktara came to the police only after months of asking for a public apology from her former husband, according to her lawyer. The politician reportedly stayed quiet and brought too much dishonor to Oktara and her family by his actions that could no longer go unpunished. Oktara wants justice brought to her name after Fikri told her that she would be his only wife and that he would help fund her university studies as well as sending her to Hajj in Mecca.
Fikri did make a public apology on Monday, but maintained his innocence saying, “If what I did was wrong, even though it was allowed by Islamic Law, then I deeply apologize to my family and my ex-wife.”
FikriÂ’s lawyer claims that Oktara never denied that she was not a virgin and that Fikri did in fact give her nearly $4000 for her university studies and the trip to Hajj. According to SujaÂ’l, even after Fikri gave his ex-wife the money, she continued to ask for more money and grievances in a form of blackmail.
While no accusations have been confirmed, the situation is under investigation by the police and should be resolved within the next few months. There are strong opinions on both sides and while it is not rare that a family gives up their teenage daughter to a high ranking official in return for money, the actions by Fikri do not look good.
Secretary of the Commission for the Protection of Indonesian Children, Muhammad Ihsan, has seen the workings of Indonesian officials before and said, “If a public official is allowed to get away with behavior like this, then the public will think this is acceptable.”
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