A 16-year-old boy named Selamat Riayadi has married his 71-year-old sweetheart, Rohaya in Indonesia after the drunk in love couple threatened to kill themselves if their families blocked their union.
Their marriage is not believed to be motivated by money, as both newlyweds are equally poor.
Selamat’s family made a dowry payment to Rohaya’s family of 200,000 Indonesian Rupiah, worth about £11.50 (N4,800).
A video from their wedding shows the young groom put his face in his hands as the union is proclaimed, his expression unreadable. His new wife sits quietly beside him as the wedding guests go wild with delight.
MirrorUK reports that the wedding venue was the home of a local community leader named as Kuswoyo.
After the video and photos of the wedding spread on Indonesian social media, many questioned whether the union was real.
But an Indonesian news outlet claims it spoke to Kuswoyo who confirmed both the marriage and the couple’s threats to kill themselves if they were barred from marrying.
He said:“They said they wanted to commit suicide because they were completely in love, so if one of them dies, then both must die.”
Kuswoyo’s permission was needed according to local tradition as Rohaya had been widowed twice before.
Both he and her brother gave in to her wishes to wed following the couple’s suicide threats.
It was not clear who if anyone gave permission for Selamat to marry.
The official minimum age for boys to marry in Indonesia is 19 but a loophole allows for any marriage within a person’s “religious norms”.
Watch the wedding video below:
