86 couples wed again in E. Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Eighty-six East Jakarta couples were officially married Friday who for years did not have marriage certificates.

The couples married at the Pondok Kelapa subdistrict office, the Duren Sawit district, and exchanged marriage vows in front of ulemas. The state requires couples acquire marriage certificates.

Couples crowded the subdistrict office with their children, Pos Kota reported Saturday.

Duren Sawit religious office head Djamaludin said the couples' earlier weddings were legal according to Islam but the couples did not have marriage certificates according to state law.

The couples said they did not know they were supposed to acquire certificates. Similar mass weddings have been held in other mayoralties and in greater Jakarta. (anr)