‘I Was Drugged and Abused’
(Jakarta Globe) Safe again on Indonesian soil, teenage model Manohara Odelia Pinot outlined a horrific story of sexual abuse, confinement and torture at the hands of her Malaysian prince husband after returning to Jakarta on Sunday, following a dramatic weekend escape from him in Singapore.
Manohara Odelia Pinot was reunited with her mother, Daisy Fajarina, after escaping from her Malaysian husband with the help of Singapore police. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)
The picturesque 17-year-old said that Singapore police helped her leave her husband Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry, the crown prince of Malaysia’s Kelantan State, at a hotel there. They were in the city state with Fakhry’s father, Sultan Ismail Petra Shah II, who is undergoing medical treatment.
“I am still traumatized by all that happened and it has left an impact on me,” she told a press conference after flying back to Jakarta with her mother Daisy Fajarina, sister Dewi Sri Asih and a staff member of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.
The plight of Manohara and her fairy-tale marriage that turned into a nightmare began with disturbing news reports in April that she had apparently been kidnapped by Fakhry and his family while in Saudi Arabia in February and taken by private jet back to Malaysia. The media coverage included complaints Manohara made to her mother last year of sexual abuse, and became an international incident after the Malaysian government and Kelantan royal family refused to respond to inquiries.
During a mid-day press conference, and later in an interview with TV One, Manohara confirmed the stories of abuse.
“Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse,” she said. “I could never think a normal man could do such things.”
Manohara was only 16 at the time of her wedding and her American father, Reiner Pinot Noack, was said to have disapproved of the marriage. The seemingly blissful life of a Malaysian princess soon became a living hell, Manohara said, as she was constantly guarded and spent most of her time in her bedroom in the palace. “Every time I went out for events, they forced me to smile and would torture me if I did not do what they said,” she said.
Manohara said she tried to escape, but was caught by royal family staff and injected with drugs that made her vomit blood. “I was injected twice,” she said.
When confirming a reporter’s question about whether her husband had cut her nipples, she was reluctant to give details. “Yes it is true. Some parts of my body were cut by a razor,” Manohara said.
She said she was in Singapore as Fakhry’s father had suffered a heart attack and needed treatment. While staying at the Royal Plaza Hotel, Manohara secretly called the Singapore police on Saturday night requesting help.
Police responded and confronted the royal family, telling them they couldn’t prevent Manohara from leaving, according to Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta. He said police then called the US and Indonesian embassies for assistance.
“After Manohara was secured by the Singaporean police, our embassy staff in Singapore processed all her documents at the hotel within only four hours from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Sunday so she could go back to Indonesia immediately,” Teuku said.
Manohara confirmed that the police had helped her escape.
“The police told Fakhry that he would be held in jail if he did not let me go. No one could force me against my will in Singapore and I knew I had a chance to escape here,” she said, adding that she wanted a divorce and would file a police report against her estranged husband.
Manohara also claimed that Indonesian Ambassador for Malaysia Da'i Bachtiar had previously lied about her condition.
“They made it worse by telling lies, saying that I was fine while I was suffering in Kelantan,” she said, adding that no media in Malaysia had reported on her plight.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied allegations that its embassy in Malaysia had lied.
