16-year-old Indonesian boy marries woman in her 70s

Village officials permitted the "unregistered marriage" after the pair threatened suicide

An underage teenager in Indonesia has married a woman in her 70s defying the local custom and law.

The 16-year-old groom is technically still a minor but the local village officials permitted an “unregistered marriage” after the couple reportedly threatened to commit suicide if officials tried to block the wedding.

According to local media, the boy Selamat Riyadi and the woman Rohaya Binti Kiagus Muhammad Jakfar, who is believed to be between 71 to 75 years old, grew close when she took care of him while he was suffering from malaria.

Cik Ani, chief of their village in South Sumatra told AFP that since the boy was underage they decided to carry out the wedding on July 2 privately.

Under Indonesian law, women must be at least 16 and men at least 19 to get married.

Ani said they made the decision to let them marry to avoid “the sin of adultery.”

The pair had reportedly threatened suicide if not allowed to marry. PHOTO: AFP

Riyadi’s father reportedly died several years ago while his mother has not been caring for him properly and has reportedly remarried.

This is Rohaya’s third marriage and she has several children from her two previous husbands, reports say.



‘A very uncommon case’

Yenni Izzi, an activist from the Women Crisis Centre in Palembang who campaigns to end child marriage, told BBC the wedding was “a very uncommon case”.

“The boy decided to get married not for economic or physical reasons but because she gives him attention and love,” he explained.

“He is not mature enough, so to get that attention and love he thinks living together is the answer. And living together means getting married.”

Regional officials have expressed concern about the case, but it is unclear whether they will take action against it.

Indonesia’s Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa was quoted in the Jakarta Post saying that it was “impossible for them to marry in a religious affairs office because the groom is still underage”.

“The law also says that marriage registration officials should not assist in a marriage when they know that there's a violation of the minimum age requirement to marry,” she added.

 

The article originally appeared on BBC News.