An Indonesian court has acquitted a businessman, who is also a Muslim cleric, on charges relating to his unofficial marriage to a 12-year-old girl.

In his defence, the 43-year-old Indonesian man, who faced a possible 15-year prison term for child abuse, said the girl had reached puberty. The court ruled that it had not been shown that the man had sexually abused the girl.

The case caused a furore in Indonesia where the law stipulates that people under 16 cannot get married. Despite the legal situation, it is not unusual for men to marry girls of a younger age, especially poor people in the countryside.

photo: Indonesia (United Nations)