Child Marriage: Police Act on KPAI Report, Investigate Wedding Organizer

JAKARTA, NusaBali.com

The National Police’s Crime Unit has launched an investigation against a wedding organizer for promoting underage marriages, based on a report submitted by the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).

"The issue regarding the wedding organizer, the KPAI has now made a report to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police," head of the Public Information Bureau of the Indonesian National Police's Public Relations Division, Police Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono, said in Jakarta on Wednesday (10/2/2021).

Investigators are looking into alleged violations of the marriage law by the wedding organizer Aisha Weddings’ website aishaweddings.com, he informed. "Of course the National Police Crime Unit will investigate this problem, seeing how such issues that arise in this society can be resolved completely," he said.

Aisha Weddings had promoted a call for marriages for those between the ages of 12 and 21 on its website. It also offered ‘nikah siri’, or unregistered weddings and polygamous marriages, as part of its services. After drawing protests from users on social media, the Aisha Weddings site is currently inaccessible, with the homepage displaying a message stating it is under repair.

Underage marriages violate Law Number 16/2019 on Marriage which lays down 19 as the minimum age when couples can tie the knot in the country. Child marriage has been deemed a form of child rights violation that can hinder the fulfillment of children’s needs.  

It can also have an impact on their health, including the risk of maternal and infant mortality, according to the National Development Planning Agency. In terms of education, women who are married before they turn 18 have four times lower chances of completing their high school education, it has stated. *ant