Malaysian prince wins defamation suit against wife

Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian prince was awarded six million ringgit (Dh6.6 million) in damages in a defamation suit against his teenage wife who accused him of sexual and physical abuse after fleeing home to Indonesia.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday awarded the sum to Tengku Fakhry Esmail Petra, but he is not likely to receive any payment unless he initiates legal proceedings in Indonesia against his wife, who has so far refused to return or recognise court rulings made against her in Malaysia.

Dramatic escape

The royal scandal surfaced in May when Manohara Odelia Pinot, a well-known socialite in Indonesia, left Tengku Fakhry in what she claimed was a dramatic escape from a hotel while accompanying her husband's family on a trip to Singapore. Pinot married the prince from Malaysia's northern Kelantan state in 2008 after she turned 16.

Pinot and her mother told Indonesian media that Fakhry, 32, held her captive and treated her as a sex slave. She also made graphic allegations of physical torture during their marriage.

The prince subsequently filed a defamation suit against Pinot and her mother, both of whom refused to testify in the hearings. The High Court ruled in Tengku Fakhry's favour in November and yesterday announced the compensation award after Pinot failed to appoint lawyers in Malaysia to represent her.

Indonesian laws cannot compel Pinot to heed Malaysian court verdicts, so Tengku Fakhry plans to file a similar suit against Pinot and her mother in Jakarta, said the prince's lawyer, Mohammad Haaziq Pillay.

"We will go into the lion's den to take on the lion," Mohammad Haaziq said. "It is only a matter of time."