Indonesian model accused the Malaysian prince in violence
The story of the Indonesian model Manohara Odelia Pino and her escape from the Malaysian Prince Tengku Temengong Mohammad Fakhryi was one of those rare cases when the life story of South-East Asian countries appeared on the pages of European and American newspapers.
The marriage of one of the most beautiful woman in Indonesia with the Malaysian Sultan’s sun from the first moment was surrounded with lots of rumors. It should be marked that Manhor Dasy Fadzharina, model’s mother, was the source of rumors.
The biological father of the Indonesian model is an American, George Meng. However, the girl’s parents got divorced, and Fadzharina married a Frenchman, Rene Pino, who adopted her daughter. Manohar became one of the most famous models in Indonesia in her juvenile age and according to local Harpers Bazaar was in the top 100 most attractive women of the country,. The girl appeared on the covers of magazines and participated in fashion shows, and in December 2006, when she was not even fifteen years old, met her future husband, the son of the Sultan of Kelantan.
According to Daisy Fadzhariny, a year later her daughter’s fiancé raped her, though Manohar and Tengku got married by Islamic rules and customs in August 2008. After two months, the girl escaped back to her mother. At that time, the former model has claimed that her husband regularly beat her and abused sexually. The Prince didn’t conceal his intention to return her back home. On February 28, 2009, on the seventeenth birthday of his wife, he bought an expensive car as a present and invited Manohar with her mother and step sister to Makka.
There are different versions of what really happened on 9th of March. Daisy Fadzharina told that in the city of Jeddah, where she and her daughters were returning home in a private plane, Manohar first went into the saloon of the plane, meanwhile the others were not allowed to go on a board. Fadzharina called the incident “kidnapping.” However, the Malaysian authorities announced that Manohar agreed to return to her husband. The photographs of happy couple appeared in newspapers and there were blogs posts where Manohar denied rumors of domestic violence. Meanwhile, Daisy Fadzharine was denied to enter Malaysia.
Manohar’s mother was confused. For several times she appeared in popular television shows, where she told that she was refused in meeting her daughter. Fadzharina stated that she was offered a million dollars worth apartment in Jakarta in order to refuse to see Manohar. At the same time, the attention of public was attracted by the fact that the reception, where a young model met the Prince, was arranged by Najeeb Tun Razak, at that time a vice premier, now the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Najib previously was suspected in the murder of 28-year-old Mongolian translator Altantui Sharibu, whose disfigured and unrecognizable body was found several months after she disappeared. The Indonesian fans’ of Manohar were afraid for the girl’s life.
On the prince’s thirty-second birthday (31st of March) the couple’s photos again appeared in the newspapers. The girl looked happy, but Daisy Fadzharina in the next interview said: “If my daughter is smiling, it does not mean that she is happy.” There were rumors that Manohar was sending sad letters to her parents. Mother demanded intervention by the authorities, but all that she gained was a criticism of the press. Fadzharinu was criticized that she let her juvenile daughter to get married, despite the fact that the girl’s step-father was against of that marriage.
Manohar came back to Indonesia in the end of May and arranged a press conference where she described the sufferings which she carried in Malaysia and how she managed to escape. According to the girl, the husband kept her locked all the time and treated as an object, without paying any attention to her wishes. Whenever she refused to have relationship with him Tengku beat her and sometimes even cut her body with a razor. Manohar also said that she couldn’t sleep at night, as she was feared to get an injection. This story seems strange, but that does not mean that Manohar is lying. She explained her smiling face on the photos as the fact that she had to show a happy face because they threatened her.
What do we know about girl’s escape? Manohar and Tengku came to Singapore to visit the Sultan who was treated at a local clinic. Manohar informed her mother about the hotel where they stayed and arranged meeting with her. Prince’s bodyguards were trying to keep her back, but cameras were everywhere, so Singaporean police intervened in the case. Then mother and daughter asked the Indonesian embassy for help, but it was Sunday and none of the diplomats were there. However, the representatives of the American Embassy assisted Manohar in returning back to Indonesia.
Daisy Fadzharina told that her daughter will divorce and they will complain to the court. Sultan’s family did not comment on the situation, but retinue denied and announced that Prince himself allowed his wife to leave and take all her clothes and other things with her. They also said that Tengku agreed to give divorce, if Manohar wants.
It is difficult to find out the truth. The only thing that could clear the situation was a medical examination. The government of Malaysia announced that there will be no investigational process, because it is a personal relationship.
What will happen with Manohar Odelia Pinot is not clear. If the trial is held, it will certainly attract the attention of foreign press – in the western world, such stories are no longer considered «family affairs».
