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Father forced fifth grader to marry 60-year-old
A 12-year-old girl has fled her arranged marriage to a 60-year-old man after refusing to have sexual intercourse with her husband
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A 12-year-old girl has fled her arranged marriage to a 60-year-old man after refusing to have sexual intercourse with her husband.
The fifth grader was married off by her father, who owed the old man — Indra — Rp 1.5 million (US$150).
The forced marriage allegedly took place privately in October last year. After the marriage, the girl moved in with Indra, a gas station owner in Medan.
Her story eventually came to light after she fled from Indra’s house a few days after the wedding because she could not stand having sexual intercourse.
She fled to her sister’s house in Medan Labuhan, Medan, where she went into hiding for several months until eventually filing a report with the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAID) on March 23.
The girl said she originally refused to marry Indra, but her father, Wagimin, beat her with a belt.
The youngest of seven children to Wagimin and Supatmi, said she could not stand her father’s beatings so she eventually agreed. She was forced to drop out of school after the wedding.
“I had no other choice,” the girl told The Jakarta Post at her sister’s house on Thursday.
She has since returned to school, but is still traumatized by her experience.
She said she was often the subject of ridicule at the hands of classmates.
“They say I’m married to a grandfather and that I’m pregnant, but I’m not,” she said.
Her sister, Rismawati said they reported the case to police on March 19 and asked police to arrest Indra for sexual assault.
Indra is a famous businessman in Medan and is known to have many wives.
“As far as we know, the grandfather has five wives, and my sister was his sixth,” said Rismawati.
North Sumatra KPAID head Zahrian Pilliang said his commission sent a letter to the Medan
City Police to follow up with the complaint.
Medan City Police chief detective Comr. Jukiman Situmorang confirmed Thursday the police had received the complaint and were facing problems due to witness statements that contradict the medical report issued by the hospital.
“The medical report stated that the victim is still a virgin, but we will continue to investigate,” said Jukiman.
Jukiman said Indra had been questioned by officers.
“We inquired statements from Indra but they were also contradictory to the medical report.”
After being questioned by police, Indra reportedly fled to Aceh to avoid the media. His house was quiet, and workers at his gas station declined to comment to reporters.
The case is the latest since a Central Java cleric Pujiono Cahyo Widiyanto, also known as Syech Puji, gained media attention for marrying an underage girl. The 43-year-old was eventually acquitted of a child sexual abuse charges.
