Under draft law cohabiting couples risk one year in prison
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Heterosexual couples who live together outside of marriage risk up to a year in prison. This is the measure contained in a bill, endorsed by the Government and now before Parliament, under which "every couple that lives outside of the official state of marriage will be sentenced to at least a year in prison and other penalties”.
In Indonesia, the private lives of citizens are considered a public matter subject to government legislation. In the world's most populous Islamic country, marriage between two persons of different sex is accepted and legalized first through religious ceremonies and only later by the State.
As soon as the matrimony ceremony is blessed by the priest or other religious figure, a marital status of the newly-weds will be automatically legalized by the State as long as they bring their certificate of marriage from the parish church or other religious institution to the Public Civil Record Agency
The State can not accept a couple as married without a religious certificate. Cohabitation is regarded as a situation of adultery, punishable by law. The practice is identified with the name of Kumpul kebo, translated as "living together like buffalo”.
Cohabiting couples - Nikah Siri, in the local vernacular - have become a common practice in Indonesia, especially among celebrities, entertainers, businessmen and politicians. Research conducted 30 years ago in Yogyakarta and Central Java had shown that a large number of college students practiced coexistence for practical reasons (like reducing the costs of the rent). Since then the government has conducted more research in this field.
In 2010 a norm was passed establishing a penalty of three months' imprisonment and a fine of € 370 for unmarried couples. The measure now being debated in Parliament would increase this penalty.
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23/08/2019 17:41
04/07/2007
