Manohara: No, I don't love the prince
Maran Perianen
Jul 4, 09
7:40am
Maran Perianen
Jul 4, 09
7:40am
She may still be a teen but Manohara Odelia Pinot is clearly mature beyond her years. Married at the aged of 17, the French Indonesian claimed to have been raped, kidnapped and abused by her 31-year-old royal husband.
Having made a dramatic escape last month, Manohara has since shot to fame in Indonesia and was offered the starring role in a soap opera by Jakarta film production house Sinemart.
Last week, she took time out in between shoots at a studio in private television channel RCTI and to talk to Malaysiakini.
The following is the first of a two-part interview.
Malaysiakini: Why did you marry him (Kelantan prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra)?
Manohara: Well, the whole marriage process was complicated. It was not what you would call a “usual marriage”. Initially, I met him as a normal friend. We met at a dinner party, he did not even introduce himself to me.
(Later) it was just a kind of thing where you drop by ... and we go to have dinner, not just us but together with our friends.
One day in August 2008, he called us up and said: “Why don't you guys come down to KL, I'll introduce you to my parents.” So I was like, “Sure why not? I can go visit Kelantan as well, it would be a nice experience”.
So when we arrived - we were there for a couple of days - I met his parents and they said the mufti said on the 26th, the prince and I had to get married, and I laughed because I thought that it was a joke.
So we went to Kelantan just to look around, suddenly I was asked by Raja Perempuan (Muhammad Fakhry's mother) whether I was ready for the marriage on 26th. I told her I cannot do that - I did not agree to the marriage, my father did not agree, and I did not think my mother would agree to it.
“I have a family in Indonesia, and you have to do this properly. I am not going to marry the prince just like that.” And then the Raja said: “Look, we have already sent out all the invitations, we have already set up a venue, if you do not do this, it will be a huge embarrassment for the whole royal family.”
Frankly speaking - and this may sound a bit rude - I did not care what they had done to prepare for the wedding ceremony. So I still rejected the marriage.
Then on the wedding day - it was four o'clock in the morning - they told me that they were going to get beheaded if I did not agree to the marriage. And they said that I could go back to Jakarta and they could do this in a proper way and I could take as much time I wanted to get used to this marriage.
Then the wedding ceremony went on and I (hoped to go) back to Jakarta.
I heard that the two of you argued the moment you began your honeymoon?
It was not the moment we started our honeymoon ... it was the moment I went into the car to go back home. I asked him: “Tomorrow, what time am I going back to Indonesia?” He answered: “I never said this.” That was the first argument between us. Then I started thinking: “Oh my God, what did I get myself into?”
When I got home, I felt embarrassed of the fact that I had my period at that time, and yet he still forced me to… and I did not want to do it ... anyway because he said that I could go back to Jakarta after I got married with him... It was all too crazy for me to take.
Please excuse my language - in 2005, there was an event where he raped me during a cruise, and after that event, I was so embarrassed. I did not want to tell anyone about this, including my mother, I could not even believe it myself. I kind of went numb about that matter.
Later, when I was with him in our bedroom, I refused to sleep him. Then he kept screaming using rude words ... saying: “Thank God, I have already 'done' you before!” He even called a “whore”. It was psychological abuse. I was all stressed and I could not take it anymore.
In October 2008 (two months after the marriage), we went to Singapore for a health check-up, and I told myself, this was the chance for me to escape. It was hard to escape before that because they held my passport and I could not do anything.
They needed my passport at (Mount) Elizabeth Hospital for registration. The next day, I went to my sister and my mother, and I told them that I had to go back (to Jakarta) and I could not take this anymore.
So my mom asked me to go back to Indonesia first, and she would deal with everything.
During the (two-month) honeymoon, were you sexually abused?
That was after the Jeddah trip.
After you went back to Indonesia (the first time), did he try to convince you to go back to him?
He did not really convince me directly. Instead, he called the top ranking (leader) of Indonesian mafia which I cannot name, and he told the son to kidnap me. I do not know how much he paid them. He told them to bring me back to Kelantan, whatever the way.
It happened that I knew the son, and the son contacted me and told me that the prince asked him to kidnap me. I told them the story; fortunately they did not go according to plan.
Then the people from the palace kept calling me and asked me to return, saying that it was a 'dosa' (sin) for a wife to run away from her husband like that. I told him I would not go back. He had to keep his promise, and do everything properly for our marriage.
After that, the prince came to find me. I still did not want to act like a wife to him. Then he asked me to go to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) with him, and praise the God, he said I could go back to Jakarta after that trip to clear my mind, and he would stay in KL.
We went to Mecca, and stayed there for a while, and went to Jeddah to come back here.
I did not want to sit in a car with him and wanted to travel with my mother and sister. At the airport, I asked him whether we were taking Malaysia Airlines. He did not answer me directly and just told me not to worry because we were going back to Jakarta.
As I went up the stairs to enter the (private) airplane, suddenly I said I did not want to go up... and wanted to go down instead. They pulled me in and closed the plane door.
I screamed and asked the stewardess not to close the door because there were two more passengers (mother and sister), the stewardess just stood there and looked at me calmly, saying that the engine had started and she could not open the door.
I told them to stop the engine because that was not an excuse. After that, the bodyguard grabbed me. I tried to fight back, but obviously I could not fight with five people who were trying to hold me down and beat me up. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting, frustrating experience for me.
Then you went back to Kelantan?
Yes.
That was from March to the end of May (in 2009)?
Yes.
During your almost three months in Kelantan, many videos of you were uploaded online. When were the videos taken?
The videos were taken after they found out about my mother's actions in Jakarta to rescue me. They actually hired a guy (to) hold a camera, and he would film everything I did, even when I was eating.
For example, when I was eating, the guy would ask me to stop eating, hold the glass and smile so that he could take a picture. They asked me to stay natural and they would film me. When we went to Fraser's Hill, they would ask me to walk to a particular location and they would take a picture of me.
My simple daily things were all planned. They would ask me to pretend to do shopping and they would film me. I had to obey their orders, if not when I got home I would be abused again.
Do you love him?
No, I do not. Our wedding was not even a proper one. I only married him because he said that I could go back to Jakarta after our wedding, and he was a nice guy and everything. If he kept up the nice behaviour, I could probably learn to fall in love with him. But he did not.
Some media have described the prince as sadist?
Yes, definitely I will say that he is a sadist. A non-sadist person would not use a razor to cut the breast of a girl.
Could you describe how he cut you? How did he overpower you?
He asked a doctor to inject me with some unknown liquid; I am still waiting for the blood test to find out what it was. But basically, I just could not move and talk, but all my senses were still there - I could hear him, see him, and feel everything. I could even smell him.
The physical pain was not as much as the psychological feeling that I was not able to defend myself. I was completely helpless, even animals get more respect than me.
He just stood there looking at me, and I could feel everything. Emotionally it was terrible. Instead of hurting me fast, he preferred to do it slowly, and I can see the pleasure in his eyes.
It was like he enjoyed doing it. It was very hard for me. I could deal with the physical pain, but psychologically it was tough.
So he just cut you and left you there, there was no medical assistance for you?
No, I just waited there until it was all over and usually I fell asleep and woke up in the morning.
Did you try to complain to anyone?
Yes, the raja and the police were aware of this. The raja wanted a grandchild so she did not care what the prince did to me. I was told that this was my duty as a wife to please my husband, to get pregnant and give her a grandchild. I was being treated like a puppet.
Were you communicating with anyone else?
Yes, I had my Blackberry, which I hid under the sink. There was a wood thing (under the sink), I just moved the wood thing for about an inch and I hid my phone behind there. And there was Wifi in the house. With my Blackberry, I can communicate with others through MSN Messenger.
Anyone else knew about your situation?
Yes, someone in the higher ranks (in the palace), I cannot mention his name, but he is a Tengku in the royal family, he knew about my situation. He called up some Datuk and planned to get me out of there.
This was how you escaped?
No, actually the plan failed because in Singapore they (the Datuk and friends) wanted to 'kidnap' me and bring me to the (Indonesian) embassy, but then Tengku found out about the plan so we had to leave quickly.
Did you plan to escape when you were in Kelantan?
I could not. I was in Kelantan and the royal family were in that place. Once I was in KL and I saw an Indonesian media there, if I screamed for help during that time, the police would be on the prince's side, and asked me to be quiet.
What I did was signal to my sister - we have unique signals between us when we were little. I put my hands on my chest, which signaled that I was asking for help, and I prayed that she would see that. And she did, but no one believed her. It was exhausting.
Then they planned a trip to London, I told myself this was my chance to escape, but suddenly the sultan had a heart attack, so we went to Singapore for his treatment.