JAKARTA, Indonesia – A teenage Indonesian model whose marriage to a Malaysian prince made headlines last year has returned to her family after escaping what she says was a life of torture and captivity.
Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, said at a news conference over the weekend that she had been treated like a sex slave during her nearly yearlong marriage to Tengku Mohammad Fakhry, the 31-year-old prince of Kelantan state.
Local media reported that Pinot, who has an American father and an Indonesian mother, said she was sometimes slashed with razor blades and almost always kept locked in her bedroom.
Pinot said she had long wanted to flee, but did not have the chance until this weekend, when she accompanied the royal family on a trip to Singapore, where her father-in-law was receiving medical treatment, according to TransTV.
Her lawyer Yuri Darmas told The Associated Press on Monday that she was able to get away with the help of her mother, Singapore police and U.S. Embassy officials.
Phone calls to the home of the Kelantan royal family went unanswered Monday. Police and officials at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore could not be reached for comment late Monday.
Pinot is a well-known socialite in Indonesia and the story of her marriage to Fakhry soon after she turned 16 was made public when her mother, Daisy Fajarina, told the media she’d been barred access to her daughter and started making claims that Pinot had been kidnapped.
At the time, the Kelantan royal family denied the accusations.
Pinot’s lawyer said Monday they were considering suing the royal family.
