A website called nikahsirri.com, which claims to facilitate religiously-sanctioned Islamic marriages between women and men who are willing to pay the highest price for their virginity, caused a massive amount of controversy over the weekend in Indonesia, with the government swiftly moving to block the site and arrest the owner on pornography charges.
Nikah siri is a type of marriage that follows religious norms but is not recognized by the state (the nikahsirri.com website describes it as deriving from the Arabic words for secret and marriage). The website claims their service will make all of the arrangements to have the proper religious officials and witnesses necessary to assure the wedding is done in accordance with Islamic law.
With the tagline “Changing adultery becomes worship”, the website claims it will help applicants “find the bride of their dreams quickly and accurately”. It also mentions that you can choose the location of your wedding “such as hotel rooms or apartments”.
The site includes a long list of justifications for its services, but perhaps most outrageous of all is a section about how auctioning off a woman’s virginity can help poor families because their daughter’s virginity “is a gift from God” that poor families can utilize to get great financial rewards.
Netizens quickly accused the site of being nothing more than a front for a religious-based form of prostitution. The government agreed, with Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology announcing they would block the site yesterday after Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection Yohana Yembise said it could be used to exploit women and Minister for Social Affairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa denounced it for potentially disguising prostitution with religion and violating the country’s marriage laws.
Early Sunday morning at around 2:30 am, the Jakarta Police arrested Aris Wahyudi, the owner and founder of the website, on suspicion that he had violated pornography and child protection laws.
“At the time of his arrest, the suspect acknowledged his actions in creating and owning the website www.nikahsirri.com, which contains elements of pornography and the exploitation of children and women,” Jakarta Police Head of Public Relations Argo Yuwono wrote in a statement picked up by Kompas.
Among the evidence seized from Aris’ house during the arrest were white T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Virgins Wanted.”
Although the nikahsirri.com site has been widely condemned, nikah siri in is common in Indonesia and often used to justify the widespread practice of underage marriage as well as short-term marriages which are essentially a form of prostitution (many Middle Eastern sex tourists come to parts of Indonesia like Puncak for this reason).
The practice is so widespread due to a legal loophole in Indonesia’s marriage law which sets limits (such as minimum ages) on marriages but also includes a contradictory phrase stating that “a marriage is recognized if done according to the laws of their religion and beliefs.” So even if a marriage violates the requirements of the law, it can still be legal if it is recognized and sanctioned by religious authorities.
Another website and application called AyoPoligami (Let’s Practice Polygamy), which acts as a matchmaking service for men and women who are open to polygamy has also been heavily criticized recently but remains online as polygamy is legal in Indonesia.
