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'Illegitimate' Indonesian Children Given Ties to Fathers’ Families
Mary Anugrah Rasita | February 18, 2012

A mother hold the new birth certificate for her baby at the Civil Administration office. Millions of children born out of wedlock or from unregistered marriages in Indonesia can now claimed inheritance from their fathers after the Constitutional Court on Friday revoked an article in the country’s marriage law. (Antara Photo/Asep Fathulrahman) A mother hold the new birth certificate for her baby at the Civil Administration office. Millions of children born out of wedlock or from unregistered marriages in Indonesia can now claimed inheritance from their fathers after the Constitutional Court on Friday revoked an article in the country’s marriage law. (Antara Photo/Asep Fathulrahman)
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Comments

22roles
12:44am Feb 20, 2012

what's refund policy for buying condoms?Do we have to use them first then turn them in for a refund or what?

readd
5:33pm Feb 19, 2012

Oy vey,what a wonderful ads for condoms.

blightyboy
12:57pm Feb 19, 2012

Just like the law passed last year that was meant to make life easier for the spouses of Indonesians, it will be years before this becomes a reality.

megoblok
12:55pm Feb 19, 2012

Wondered why B.A.T.S. was a bit empty these days!!

DrDez
7:44am Feb 19, 2012

bule

If the family is poor then the mother is 100% burdened with the kids & the father starts out making more babies. The mothers often forced into work they rather would not do, kids no school etc

If the man's family is better off then the father keeps the kids and mother is put out to grass* If both families are better off then there may be either conflict or a sharing solution

The ruling is very welcome, I doubt that its application will be either fair or even imposed, it will as always come down to cash

Isah - Most kids born out of wedlock seem to actually be within wedlock via unregistered wives. Why would a man not register his wife 2-4? Ask a Muslim. One night stands account for a tiny proportion & even that could be reduced if we had proper sex education & a modern attitude towards contraception

As for abortions - I can only wince when I think what the majority of poor women must go through here on that front

*justified by Religion as always $ has more weight than morality

Children born out of wedlock or into unregistered marriages can now claim inheritance from their fathers after the Constitutional Court on Friday revoked an article in the country’s marriage law.

The court scrapped a section of the 1974 Marriage Law that stipulates children born outside of marriage only have civil ties with their mother and their mother’s family.

The nine justices of the court agreed that the article was unconstitutional.

The court ruled that children born outside of legal marriages could have civil ties with both their parents’ families “as long as the children can be proven scientifically or with equipment in accordance with the law to have blood ties with the man.”

The ruling was issued following a law review filed by dangdut singer Aisyah Mochtar, also known as Machica Mochtar, who has a son from her unregistered marriage or nikah siri (temporary marriage under Islamic law) with Moerdiono, a former minister during the New Order.

Moerdiono’s family has rejected the ties of Machica’s son, Muhammad Iqbal Ramadhan, to his father, who died in October last year.

Machica married Moerdiono in 1993 and divorced him in 1998. Iqbal was born in 1996. However, Moerdiono’s family does not acknowledge him, and has dismissed Machica’s claim that he is Moerdiono’s son.

She challenged Moerdiono and Iqbal take a DNA test, but family ignored the demand.

Until she can prove Iqbal is Moerdiono’s son, Machica is still unable to benefit from the law’s revision.

Justice Ahmad Fadhil Sumadi explained that ties between father and son could not be determined just by marriage but also through proof of blood ties, regardless of the parents’ legal marriage status.

“The law should give children their fair legal guarantee and their rights despite the marriage status of their parents,” he said.

Islamic law allows polygamous marriages, and many Muslim men have children with multiple wives. Many husbands don’t register their marriages in order to hide them from their wives or the public.

The revision of the marriage law also means that children born out of wedlock can now claim legal ties with their father and inherit his assets, Ahmad said.

Activists and experts welcomed the court’s ruling, calling it a victory for the country’s women and children.

Henny Warsilah, a sociologist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the decision was a positive development for the nation as a whole.

“The ruling will protect the victims of nikah siri, which has been on the rise since the influx of Middle Eastern men,” she said. She added that now children would no longer be termed “illegitimate,” which would reduce the insults they face.

Masruchah, the deputy chairperson of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), expressed skepticism over the ruling, saying the it could encourage fathers’ families to attempt to take custody children.

“Women should be tougher in defending their rights even when having children outside of marriage, including defending their children from fathers’ claims,” she said.