Guess What? Mandra

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)