Two district councillors in Indonesia have denied allegations they were having an affair despite the wife and daughter of the man catching the pair red-handed in a hotel room.
The denials came the wake of a public marital spat during a radio interview.
After being allegedly caught with Hellyana in a hotel room in Jakarta last Sunday by his wife and daughter, Mahadir said they were only having a discussion and were about to go to a mall in Central Jakarta to dine with colleagues.
Mahadir Basti, a deputy chairman of the Belitung district council from the Crescent Star Party (PBB), said accusations that he was having an affair with Hellyana, a councillor from the United Development Party (PPP), were the result of a "misunderstanding."
They were in the capital for a working visit.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman," Mahadir said, echoing the words of former US President Bill Clinton in relation to Monica Lewinsky.
"After all, she was having her period, so it was impossible for me to do such [sexual] things."
Mahadir accused his wife, Jumiati, of being used by a political rival to sully his image.
However, Jumiati told a radio station in Banka-Belitung province that she had suspected her husband of having an affair for the past seven months after accessing his cellphone.
Mahadir, she added, had "strayed" at least once but she had forgiven him.
Jumiati said she had seen Hellyana enter the hotel and her husband follow suit about an hour later. She reported her suspicion to the police - adulterous sex is illegal in Indonesia - and returned accompanied by officers.
While giving her side of the story to the radio station, Mahadir burst into the studio and brought the interview to an abrupt end. he then dragged Jumiati away.
After failing to get both of them to answer the door when she knocked pretending to be a maid, she and her daughter entered the room, in the presence of officers, with the help of a spare key given to them by the hotel.
"Don’t be reckless with your statements. You know the effects of the interview could be fatal because thousands of people are listening," Mahadir told his wife, as heard over the air.
"If what you said was not true, it could lead to lawsuits."
Ozzie Azura, the owner of the station, Belitung FM Tanjungpandan, said it was Mahadir who had initially been invited to to explain the matter over the radio.
But Mahadir had cancelled it, saying he could not participate because he was being questioned by the district council’s ethics committee.
Source: jakartapost.com
Source: jakartapost.com
