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Cleric marries 12-year-old
28/10/2008 12:03 - (SA)
Jakarta - Indonesian police are investigating a wealthy Muslim cleric who married a 12-year-old girl and is reportedly planning to wed others aged seven and nine, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Pujiono Cahyo Widiyanto, a 43-year-old businessman and cleric from the Central Java city of Semarang, has courted nationwide controversy over his decision to marry the girl, who comes from a poor family.
Widiyanto has defended the marriage, which is his second, saying the girl had already reached puberty.
"We are investigating the case. We are now gathering witnesses and then we'll look for evidence on what laws the man might have broken, and we'll follow up from there," national police spokesperson Abubakar Nataprawira told AFP.
The Jakarta Post daily reported Widiyanto could be charged under a 2002 child protection law for forcing or trading a child into sex and for marrying below the legal minimum age of 16.
Child protection activists have also called for Widiyanto to be charged with child trafficking.
"I'm very concerned, disappointed and angry. Such cases often happen in the villages where daughters are married off young because their families are facing economic troubles," said Seto Mulyadi, chairperson of the national child protection commission.
Widiyanto has been backed by some high-profile Muslim figures, including Hilman Rosyad Syihab, the deputy head of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), according to the Detikcom online news service.
Islam allows for marriage regardless of whether a girl has reached sexual maturity, Syihab was quoted as saying.
"It is not a problem under Islamic law," Syihab said.
Detikcom also said Widiyanto is planning to marry two more girls aged seven and nine.
Nearly 90% of Indonesia's 234 million people are Muslim, most of whom practise a moderate strain of the religion.
- AFP
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