Manohara Odelia: Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia recently made such a claim on social media which created a stir all around. She has revealed that her marriage into the Malaysian royal family was done ‘by force without her consent’.
Manohara Odelia, 33, shared her pain after years in her Instagram post. She wrote that her marriage in 2008 to Tengku Muhammad Fakhri Petra, a member of the Malaysian royal family, was a case of ‘forced child marriage’. In such a situation, she has objected to Prince being called ‘ex-wife’ and said that the marriage was not of her wish.
‘Forcibly married to Malaysian prince’
Odelia was only 15 years old at that time. He did not have that much freedom and ability. He requested media organizations and digital platforms not to use words like ‘ex-wife’ for them and termed it as ‘immoral’. The pain and humiliation which he kept hidden in his heart for years has now finally been revealed to the whole world.
She was married to Malaysian Prince Tengku Fakhri in 2008. That royal palace was no less than a cage for him. He wrote that ‘It was not a romantic relationship, nor was it a legal marriage. They never wanted that relationship, they were forced into that marriage. Being a minor, he had no choice.
The royal palace became a ‘cage’ for the model
Odelia made another post and wrote that ‘When a person is sexually assaulted, we do not call him the ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend of the perpetrator. We do not view sexual violence as a relationship. We do not characterize abuse as a consensual incident. Neither did she date that man, there was no relationship nor any will, everything happened forcibly.
She had to face ‘mental and physical torture’ for a long time after marriage. She lost contact with the outside world, became distant from her family and her every move was monitored. If reports are to be believed, Odelia was able to escape from the clutches of that forced marriage in 2009. During an overseas trip, she managed to escape from a hotel in Singapore with the help of her mother, the police, and the US Embassy.