Galih Ginanjar, an Indonesian actor has been convicted and sentenced to two years and four months in prison for claiming his ex-wife Fairuz A Rafiq’s genitalia smelled like “salted fish.”
The soap opera actor made the humiliating commenting while appearing as a guest in June 2019 on a popular YouTube show hosted by TV personality Rey Utami.
On the show, he answered questions about his personal life including his failed marriage to Rafiq that ended in 2015.
Not shying away from vulgar language, he described intimate details of his life with Rafiq who is also an actress. Among other things, he said that intercourse between them usually lasted about 15 minutes and that her privates smelled like “salted fish”.
Unlike the show’s host that found it funny and burst into laughter, Rafiq filed a police report for “immoral content”.
“Those immoral words have badly hurt my heart as well as all Indonesian women, and they have brought great shame to my husband and my family,” Fairuz A Rafiq said in a statement, last year.
“What made it hurt even more was that the [YouTube] account owners, Rey Utami and Benua, were laughing while spreading the immoral content, by encouraging everyone to subscribe and publish it as many times as possible to increase their subscriber count.”
Galih Ginanjar and the owners of the YouTube channel where he made the remarks, Rey Utami and her husband Pablo Benua; faced charges with three alternative articles on immorality, humiliation, and defamation under Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transactions Act.
They all risked six years in prison but got much less prison time via teleconference. Judge Agus Widodo sentenced Galih to 2 years and 4 months behind bars. Utami got one year and four months, and her husband one year and 8 months. The defendants’ attorneys said they might consider appealing the sentences.
Shortly after the court announced the verdict, Rafiq took to Instagram to applaud the outcome of the trial.
“Lies can cover up the truth, but not eliminate it… it’s only a matter of time until the truth prevails… Allahu ‘akbar (Allah is greater [than everything]). Thank you, ya Allah,” she wrote.
Although they have since deleted the original video, unidentified users have reuploaded copies of it on YouTube; with some getting over 3 million views.
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