Hundreds of Indonesians rallied Tuesday to demand a district chief's
resignation after revelations of his text message divorce to a teenage
girl four days after their marriage sparked public outrage.
Aceng Fikri, chief of Garut District in West Java province, took
17-year-old Fani Oktora as his second wife in July. But Fikri, 40,
quickly divorced her via a short text message, alleging Oktora was not a
virgin when they married as he had expected. He said he spent about
$26,000 on the wedding.
Students and rights activists in Garut spit and trampled on
pictures of Fikri on Tuesday before burning them outside the local
council building.
It was the second consecutive day of protests against Fikri, whose
case came into the spotlight last week after a picture of the couple was
posted on the Internet. On Monday, dozens of people rallied in front of
his house and the council building.
Late Tuesday, the local council issued a recommendation for Fikri's
dismissal, but the process will have to wait for a verdict by the
Supreme Court.
Also on Tuesday, Oktora, accompanied by her lawyers, filed a
complaint with police in the capital, Jakarta, accusing Fikri of
domestic violence by holding her captive after the wedding and
fraudulence for declaring that he was a widower.
A lawyer representing Fikri said they would file a complaint of
defamation against Oktora, whom he said had signed an agreement saying
she would not complain about the marriage.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reportedly discussed the case with
West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan on Tuesday during a visit to the
province.
Some Muslims believe in an Islamic ritual allowing men to end a
marriage by telling their wives they divorce them. However, divorce by
text message is uncommon in moderate Indonesia.
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