Published: 06/16/2006 12:00 AM (UAE) 'Marriage gangs' prey on youths By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
Riyadh: With the beginning of the summer holidays, a large number of Arabs, especially from the Gulf states, are travelling to tourist destinations in various parts of the world, especially in the Far East, looking to enjoy themselves and relax. Most of them want to enjoy their holidays in picturesque places, visiting historical monuments and taking in the culture. Some of them, however, will want to take advantage of the opportunity to try out temporary marriages. They prefer Indonesia over other countries, mainly because of the low cost of living there. This has resulted in the mushrooming of marriage bureaus in Jakarta and other major Indonesian cities in recent years. Organised gangs have also grown up who prey on Arab tourists and try to lure them with promises of low-cost marriages and then cheating them. Several Saudi youths, who became prey to these gangs, shared their bitter experiences with Gulf News. They were lured by the false promises of the gang members of "marriages to beautiful young women under 18 at cheap rates." In most cases, their brides abandoned them and ran away within few days of the marriage. When they then contacted the marriage bureaus, the employees washed their hands of blame saying that it was not their responsibility to ensure that their brides stayed with them. According to the youths, who declined to be named, marriage 'mafias' are common in Jakarta, and their activities pivot mainly around places that Arabs frequent. The gang members introduce themselves as representatives of licensed marriage bureaus and offer marriage proposals. The marriage ceremonies are then held at marriage bureaus in the presence of a licensed marriage notary and two witnesses. The dowry normally ranges between two to three million Indonesian Rupiah (Dh1,000-1,500). One of the Saudi youths, who was cheated by the gangs, told Gulf News: "While I was taking my meals at an Arab restaurant in Jakarta, I heard some young men asking whether anybody wanted to get married to beautiful young girls. I did not pay any attention to them in the beginning. "When they repeated the offer for the third time, I was interested and expressed my willingness. "They then took me to a marriage bureau and I was introduced to a man called Haider. "After a short while, Haider paraded five young women in front of me and asked me to select one. When I had chosen one of them and agreed on a dowry of four million rupiah (Dh1,468), the marriage notary appeared with witnesses and solemnised the marriage ceremony," he said. "When I took my bride to a nearby hotel, she was clearly bewildered. While I was trying to be friendly with her, she asked me if she could go out to the nearby pharmacy to buy some medicine and I agreed not knowing that she would never return," the young man said. The same was the case with another Saudi youth but with a slight difference. He went to the marriage bureau and told the story of his wife's disappearance. The bureau staff members promised to help him find her. On leaving the building, he saw his bride going into the same office in the company of some other girls in order to be paraded in front of the new "victims". When he tried to stop her, the security guards held him and the door was slammed shut. Some of the Saudi victims managed to lodge complaints with the police. A policeman was sent with the youths to the marriage bureau in search of Haider but the police could not trace him and the staff at the bureau told the police that he was not "in sight". http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Saudi_Arabia/10047310.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/9I_uBB/YPaOAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
