Indonesia has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. Recently, an incident like that happened again, causing a stir and discontent among the public, and made some lawmakers want to reconsider the legal age regulation for marriage.
According to Detik News, on May 22, 2022, at Wiring Palannae village, Tempe region, Wajo district, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, the wedding between the bride Nikma Sari Saskia and the groom Muh Ferdi took place. appeared in the presence of many relatives, relatives and friends. The most remarkable thing is that at that time, the bride Saskia was only 16 years old and the groom Ferdi was even younger, only 15 years old.
Mr. Muhammad Aris Ali, a relative of the bride’s family, said that both Saskia bride and groom Ferdi are attending a junior high school. This wedding was actually arranged by two families. The bride and groom are not only neighbors but also distant relatives. Mr. Ali said: “The distance from the bride’s house to the groom’s house is only about 1km and they are distant relatives.”
On the wedding day, the bride’s father Saskia also gave the groom Ferdi a piece of land as a dowry for his daughter to return to her husband’s house. Both families are supportive of this marriage and feel there is no problem despite the young couple’s age.
In fact, Saskia and Ferdi attended the same school together and have developed feelings for a long time. When the two families learned of the story, they decided to let Saskia and Ferdi get married early, both to bond the feelings between the two families and to avoid adultery later on.
At the wedding, bride Saskia and groom Ferdi wore green traditional wedding dresses, carefully made up, and wore a lot of accessories. The two happily took pictures, but their young faces caused a lot of controversy.
Most netizens think that the two families are too wrong to encourage this marriage because the bride and groom are too young. At the very least, they should finish their studies and find a job before thinking about marriage. That’s not to mention Saskia and Ferdi are under the legal marriage age.
Currently, the legal age of marriage in Indonesia for both men and women is 19 years or older. However, according to the Population and Family Planning Agency of Indonesia, the recommended age for marriage is between 20-25 years old for women and 25-30 years old for men.
Despite the provisions of the law, many weddings in Indonesia are still held when the bride or groom, or both are under the legal marriage age, without penalty. That’s because Indonesian society still accepts these marriages if they are performed in accordance with religious beliefs, known as “nikah siri marriages”, with only the consent of the family and the religious court.
About a quarter of Indonesian girls are married before the age of 18, according to official figures from Indonesia and the United Nations. Indonesia also has the eighth highest number of child brides in the world, according to the NGO “Girls Not Brides”. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 14% of girls in Indonesia are married before the age of 18 and 1% are married before the age of 15. Poverty, notions of family honor, social norms, customs and religious factors are factors that push many girls into early marriage.
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