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'Nikah siri' deprives children of protection
For children born of unregistered marriages, the birth certificate will only list the mother.
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For children born of unregistered marriages, the birth certificate will only list the mother. (Shutterstock/File)
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ublic concern was recently raised over the issue of nikah siri (unregistered marriages) after a businessman, Aris Wahyudi, the owner of nikahsirri.com, was arrested. His website facilitated nikah siri and he even advertised a “virgin auction.”
Aris’ actions triggered condemnation by authorities and the public, and finally the police declared him a suspect for contravening the Pornography Law and Electronic Information and Transactions Law.
The word siri originates from the Arabic sirrun, which means quietly or exclusively, or as-sirriyyu, secretly. Thus nikah siri means a marriage held quietly/exclusively/secretly.
However, the phrase is understood in Indonesia as any marriage that is unregistered with an official marriage registrar. In the Javanese culture, such marriages are called nikah kampung (village marriage).
