Usually when selfish parents marry off their underage daughters to older men they get a decent sum of money. 1,000 or so dollars, in some instances. In the case of an Indonesian girl, the dowry paid to a 60-year-old pervert for their 12-year-old daughter’s hand in marriage was a mere $11.00. $11.00 for their child, who was forced, against her will, to marry the old goat. Married by a cleric, the child was beaten severely by her father when she first refused. You see, the little girl was more interested in an education than being a wife, so she ran away to stay with her 28-year-old sister Rismawati so she could continue with her classes.
The girl, identified as AG, reported her plight to the Medan office of the Indonesia Child Protection Commission (KPAID) on Tuesday. Accompanied by her 28-year-old sister, AG said her parents forced her to marry the man, identified as MIG, in October. Rismawati, AG’s sister, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that her little sister had escaped from her husband’s house and was staying with her.“She ran away from her husband’s house because she really wants to keep going to school,” Rismawati said.
Rismawati said they decided to go to KPAID after a police report they filed four months ago had no effect.
AG’s concerned and caring sister has acted more like a mother to her than her real mother. A real mother would never give her young child to a pedophile, marriage or not. She would encourage her child to continue with her education. Rismawati, went above and beyond when it came to her baby sister.
Every day, Rismawati took AG to her school and waited for her until her classes finished. She said she was worried that MIG’s employees would kidnap her sister and take her back to his house and AG would not be able to return to school.
Rismawati condemned MIG for marrying her younger sister against her will. She said MIG was only thinking about his own needs while ignoring the fact that AG was underage.
She said MIG promised her family that he would buy AG a house and a motorcycle. She said she did not know if he had fulfilled his promise.
A motorcycle and a house? The child just wanted to go to school! And of course the old man was thinking about his own deviant needs: A young, innocent body to defile. How people can’t see that it’s legalized pedophilia is beyond me.
Although, the girls have filed a complaint, I’m not sure anything positive will result, since there are those that believe the whole issue is a private matter that should not be interfered with.
The chairman of Pusaka Indonesia Foundation, of which KPAID is a member, promised to pursue the complaint. “We will sit with the police and discuss what has been keeping them from investigating the case thoroughly. We will find solutions together. We are good friends with the police,” Eddy Iksan said.
Hasan Basri, of Medan’s education agency, said that while he regretted that a child who was supposed to be in school was married to a much older man against her will, it was difficult to interfere because it was a private matter.
Magdalena Sitorus, a KPAID commissioner in Jakarta, said some parents felt children were their possessions.
“I think parents who do this should be punished. However, we do not have any law regarding this,” she said.
It’s about time these laws are changed to protect young girls in places like Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Indonesia. Making it a criminal act for parents to force their children to marry under the age of 18 would help to stem the unsavory, cruel practice. Some jail time for the men who marry the young girls would also take care of the situation, as well.
