Widow rocks court with raunchy testimony

Instead of a sorrowful testimony from one of the grieving widows of the late Supreme Court justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, court observers were treated on Wednesday to an almost lewd glimpse of Iwah Setyawati and her slain husband's intimate life.

Iwah, 48, who appeared at the Central Jakarta District Court to testify on the alleged claim that Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra tried to bribe her late husband, showed little inhibition in also flaunting her physical "prowess".

"Mr. Judge, Iwah stands for indah (beautiful), wangi (fragrant), asyik (sensuous), and hangat (warm)," the second wife of Syafiuddin coquettishly introduced herself in front of the court.

The packed court room burst into laughter. Even the judges could not hide their smiles.

Caught off guard, presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria even asked Iwah to repeat her statement, which she happily did.

Iwah was also more than willing to reveal more than most would want to know when she replied to Tommy's lawyer O.C. Kaligis' question about the state of the couple's marriage.

"Conflicts in a marriage are common. He once left me for two weeks, but then he came back to me because of the way I 'serviced' him 'internally' and 'externally'," said the woman who became Syafiuddin's second wife in 1999.

"I always called him yang (slang for sayang, meaning dear)," she added.

Judge Amiruddin, however, found it too much and ordered Kaligis to stop asking questions about her private life. -- JP