JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian child protection agency is investigating reports of a marriage between a Muslim cleric and a 12- year-old girl, the Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Sunday.
The newspaper said the 43-year-old cleric from Central Java allegedly married the minor girl with her parents' consent in August and planned to marry two more girls, aged seven and nine. The government-backed Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) plans to question the cleric, the girl, her parents, the minister who married them and witnesses of the marriage. Under the Indonesian law, a woman must be at least 16 years old to marry. Marriage with a minor carries a maximum of five year jail term. The cleric is a rich businessman who owns a Muslim boarding school in Central Java. He made headlines in local newspapers after donating billions of rupiah to the poor during the fasting month of Ramadan. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
