Just in case you aren’t caught up with what’s happened there recently, we’ll give you a bit of a refresher: a newlywed couple in NTB attracted nationwide attention just last week after the groom, identified as Muh, sued his bride, firstly identified by her initials MIT, alleging that she deceived him by withholding the truth about her biological sex before their marriage. 

MIT, who has now been identified as Mita, was declared a suspect soon after, with police alleging that she may have forged her identity card (KTP) and falsely declaring that she is a female while fulfilling the administrative aspects of her marriage. However, Mita previously told the police that Muh was the one to take care of their marriage papers, and further claimed that he knew of her biological sex prior to tying the knot. 

Fast-forward to this week in what appears to be a new page in the story, where the district attorney in Mataram announced yesterday that they have officially filed an annulment for the same-sex marriage between Muh and Mita.

“We from the NTB Prosecutors Office and Mataram district attorney on Monday officially filed an annulment for the marriage between Muhlisin and Mita, based on the contents of their marriage certificates to the Giri Menang Religious Court,” Nanang Sigit Yulianto from the NTB Prosecutors Office, said.

Indonesia does not recognize same-sex unions, with the 1974 Marriage Law stipulating that marriage is between a man and a woman as husband and wife. 

“After we checked for facts on the ground, [we found] that [a man named] Supriadi changed his identity to Mita. It’s clearly a marriage between two males, Supriadi with Muh, which means that the requirements of a marriage according to the Marriage Law was not fulfilled,” Nanang said. 

According to the Citizenship and Civil Records Agency (Dukcapil) in Mataram, Mita had used a false citizenship identity number (NIK), which actually belonged to a resident of Cakranegara district in the province. The head of the agency, Chaerul Anwar, told CNN Indonesia that there is strong evidence pointing to Mita having committed identity fraud.

Mita has been charged with Article 378 of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) and faces a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment. However, Chaerul said Mita could also be charged with the 2013 Citizenship Law, which carries a maximum of six years in prison.

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