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resident Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono is apparently paying close attention to the case of Garut, West Java, Regent Aceng Fikri, who triggered public outcry by divorcing his teenage wife just four days after marrying her.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Monday that Yudhoyono had asked him to scrutinize the case after the regent’s “disgraceful” behavior made headlines nationwide.

“Following the President’s instruction, I deployed my subordinates to the regency to hear the aspirations of local people,” he said.

He added that Aceng had violated the 1974 Marriage Law by marrying a 17-year-old in an unofficial Islamic marriage ceremony and had acted dishonorably as a regional leader.

However, Gamawan said he could not dismiss the disgraced regent because, under a 2005 government regulation on the election, inauguration and dismissal of regional leaders, only the regional legislative body of the respective region could impeach a regional leader.

According to the regulation, if the Garut Legislative Council impeached and decided to remove Aceng, the council would have to take its decision to the Supreme Court, which would have to declare his removal legal or otherwise within 30 days.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who summoned Aceng to Bandung later in the night, said: “The issue of the unofficial Islamic marriage has violated ethics and we will report this to the home minister. Such behavior does not set an appropriate example to the public because he is the leader in Garut.”

Aceng married a girl identified as FO in an unofficial Islamic marriage on July 14, and then divorced her via text message only four days later, saying he was disappointed that FO was not a virgin as he had expected.

Aceng married FO while he was still married to Nurrohimah, with whom he has three children.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) Eva Kusuma Sundari, who is a member of House Commission III on law and human rights, strongly encouraged law enforcers to hunt down the “syndicate” that introduced Aceng to FO’s family.

FO and her lawyer Dany Saliswijaya filed a report to the National Police Criminal Investigation Directorate in Jakarta on Monday.

“It is believed there was domestic violence and fraud in this case. When he was about to marry FO, he claimed he was divorced, while in fact he is not,” said Dany as quoted by Antara news agency.