Guess What? Mandra

Comedian Mandra has had the stuffing knocked out of him by the court handling the legal dispute between him and his wife.

East Jakarta District Court ordered Mandra last week to pay Rp 101 million (US$10,000) to his former wife for not registering their marriage.

His former wife, Rina Rodhiah, had sued him for failing to register their marriage at the Civil Registration Office and neglecting their three-year-old daughter after they divorced.

Rina, whom Mandra married without the due legal procedures in 1995, had asked the court to order Mandra to pay a total of Rp 1 billion for non-material losses and their daughter's living expenses since the couple separated.

The court rejected her demand that Mandra should pay their daughter's living expenses on the grounds that her birth was not registered with the government and thus she has no legal right to such compensation.

"The court stated that Mandra had violated the Civil Law by not registering their marriage," said her lawyer, Ida Budhiati from the Legal Aid Foundation of the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (LBH-APIK).

Mandra, a top advertisement model, has been frequently bashed and mocked by the media on account of his family feud. The feud started after he accused his wife of having an affair. He is reported to have rejected Rina because he believes she is not his blood child. Rumor has it that his motive for slinging mud is to find reasons to divorce his wife and marry again.

The court rejected Rina's demand that Mandra, who shot to stardom through his role in the TV series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel Goes to School), surrender his property in East Jakarta as a guarantee.

Ida said she was pleased with the judge's ruling, but described it as "not going far enough." (jun)