Manohara Odelia Pinot

Manohara Odelia
Born
Manohara Odelia Manz[1]

(1992-02-28) 28 February 1992
Jakarta, Indonesia
OccupationsModel, actress, activist
SpouseTengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra[a]

Manohara Odelia Pinot (born Manohara Odelia Manz; 28 February 1992) is an Indonesian animal-welfare activist and former model and actress. She began modelling in her teens and was included in the 100 Pesona Indonesia list published by the Indonesian edition of Harper's Bazaar. In August 2008, when she was 16, she took part in a marriage ceremony with Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, a son of the Sultan of Kelantan. Manohara later said that she had not consented to the ceremony and did not consider the marriage valid.

After returning to Indonesia from Singapore in May 2009, she alleged that Fakhry had confined and abused her while she lived in Kelantan, an allegation Fakhry and the Kelantan royal family denied. The case received extensive coverage in Indonesia and Malaysia. Fakhry obtained a default judgment in a defamation suit against Manohara and her mother, and the Kuala Lumpur High Court awarded him RM6 million in damages. In separate sharia proceedings, the Kelantan Sharia High Court treated the marriage as valid and continuing and ordered Manohara to return to Fakhry and repay money that the court found she had borrowed.

Manohara later worked in television before leaving the entertainment industry in 2014. She stood unsuccessfully as a legislative candidate in the 2019 Indonesian general election and, by 2024, was active in animal welfare and environmental protection. In 2026, she said that she had never entered a valid marriage with Fakhry and asked Indonesian media and several digital platforms not to refer to her as Fakhry's former wife.

Early life and career

Manohara Odelia Manz was born on 28 February 1992 in Jakarta to George Manz, an American, and Daisy Fajarina, an Indonesian.[1][4][5] As a minor, she held United States and Indonesian passports.[6] She later used Pinot, the surname of her stepfather, Juergen Reiner Noack-Pinot.[1] She worked as a model in her teens and was included in the "100 Pesona Indonesia" list published by the Indonesian edition of Harper's Bazaar.[7][5]

Relationship with Tengku Muhammad Fakhry

Meeting and 2008 ceremony

Manohara met Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, a son of Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan, at a party in Jakarta in 2006, when she was 14.[5] Fakhry continued to meet Manohara over the following two years, usually in the presence of her mother, Daisy Fajarina.[5] Manohara said that Fakhry's mother informed her in August 2008 that a marriage ceremony would take place immediately and that a royal aide persuaded her to participate.[5] The ceremony was held in Malaysia on 26 August 2008, when Manohara was 16.[5][7] She later said that she had opposed the arrangement, did not speak during the ceremony and did not sign marriage documents.[5] Manohara returned to Jakarta soon afterward and resumed her modelling work.[5]

Separation from her family

In February 2009, Fakhry invited Manohara, her mother and her sister Dewi to perform the umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.[7] Manohara and Fajarina said that, as the group prepared to leave Jeddah on 9 March, Manohara departed with Fakhry on a private aircraft while Fajarina and Dewi were left at the airport.[5][7] Fajarina said that Malaysian immigration officials denied her entry on 19 March when she travelled to Kuala Lumpur to see Manohara.[8] She said that she last spoke to Manohara by telephone on 21 March and was unable to contact her afterward.[8]

Return from Singapore and abuse allegations

Manohara and members of the Kelantan royal family travelled to Singapore in late May 2009 while Sultan Ismail Petra received medical treatment there.[5] Malaysian businessman Kadar Shah said that Manohara passed him a written request for help during a meeting and that he then contacted Fajarina.[5] At the hotel where the royal party was staying, Manohara activated an elevator alarm and was reunited with her mother after security personnel intervened.[5] A spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Singapore confirmed that embassy personnel assisted Manohara but did not disclose the nature of that assistance.[5]

Manohara returned to Jakarta with her mother on 31 May 2009.[9] After returning, she alleged that Fakhry had confined her and subjected her to physical and sexual abuse while she lived in Kelantan.[9][5] Manohara later filed a police report in Indonesia concerning the alleged treatment.[10] Fakhry denied the allegations and filed a police report in Malaysia against Manohara and Fajarina, accusing them of making false statements.[10] The Kelantan royal family also denied the accusations.[10] The Kelantan palace later described the dispute as a personal matter between Manohara and Fakhry and said that it did not involve the Sultan.[11]

Civil defamation case

On 20 July 2009, Fakhry filed a defamation suit against Manohara and Fajarina in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, seeking RM105 million over statements they had made at press conferences between April and June 2009.[12] The law firm representing Manohara and Fajarina later withdrew, and on 29 October the court gave them until 5 November to appoint new counsel.[12] The court entered judgment in default for Fakhry on 5 November after they did not appoint replacement lawyers.[12][13]

Fakhry later gave evidence during proceedings to determine damages, maintaining that the allegations were false and had damaged his reputation.[12] On 11 March 2010, the High Court awarded him RM6 million in damages against Manohara and Fajarina.[14] The Times reported that Fakhry would need to begin legal proceedings in Indonesia to enforce the award there.[14]

Sharia proceedings

Fakhry also brought proceedings in the Kelantan Sharia High Court seeking an order that Manohara return to him and repayment of money that he said she had borrowed.[15] At a hearing on 15 November 2009, Fakhry's cousin Tengku Azwani Tengku Iskandar, the only witness called, said that she had been close to the pair and had neither witnessed abuse nor received a complaint from Manohara.[15] Manohara was neither present nor represented at the hearing, and her sharia lawyers had withdrawn earlier that month.[15]

On 13 December 2009, the court ordered Manohara to return to Fakhry within 14 days and to pay him RM1,112,250 within 30 days after he took a court-ordered oath.[2] The judge rejected the position that the money had been a gift and noted that Manohara had not appeared during the proceedings.[2] The ruling stated that failure to return would cause Manohara to be treated as derhaka (disloyal) and nusyuz (recalcitrant) under the court's application of sharia law.[2] In issuing the order, the court treated the marriage as valid and still in force.[16] In 2026, Manohara said that she had not consented to the ceremony and did not consider herself legally married to Fakhry.[3][17]

Public and diplomatic response

During Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak's visit to Jakarta on 23 April 2009, reporters were not permitted to ask about Manohara at his joint press conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.[18] Fajarina held a separate press conference that day and appealed to Najib to investigate her daughter's situation and help restore contact between them.[18] Indonesia's Foreign Ministry asked Malaysia to explain why Fajarina had been denied entry and sought Malaysian assistance in arranging contact with Manohara.[8] Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights also said that it would contact its Malaysian counterpart about the allegations.[19] After Manohara returned to Indonesia, Malaysian deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that the Malaysian government regarded the dispute as a personal matter and did not intend to investigate it.[9]

The case received sustained coverage in Indonesia and Malaysia and prompted street protests in Jakarta, including a demonstration outside the Malaysian embassy.[5] Indonesian news coverage linked Manohara's case with the ongoing Ambalat dispute and other tensions with Malaysia.[5][20] Political scientists Khadijah Md. Khalid and Shakila Yacob wrote that her allegations were received more sceptically in Malaysia, while her case received prominent and largely sympathetic coverage in Indonesia.[21] Malaysian officials also regarded Indonesian coverage of the case as sensational and maintained that the dispute was a private matter between Manohara and Fakhry.[5] Malaysian international-relations scholar Ruhanas Harun wrote that Indonesian media presented the case as part of wider grievances against Malaysia.[20]

Later life and activities

After returning to Indonesia, Manohara starred in a television drama about a young wife mistreated by her husband.[5] By April 2010, she was also making paid speaking appearances and preparing to launch a cosmetics line.[5] She later said that she left the entertainment industry in 2014.[22] In 2018, Manohara began volunteering with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network after being invited by animal-welfare activist Femke Den Haas.[22] She said that her interest in animals began in childhood and later led her to become vegan.[22]

Manohara stood as a NasDem Party legislative candidate in the 2019 Indonesian general election for an electoral district covering Surabaya and Sidoarjo, but did not win a seat in the House of Representatives.[23][22] In 2024, she was volunteering in animal welfare and environmental protection.[22]

In January 2026, Manohara asked Indonesian media, Google and Wikipedia to stop referring to her as Fakhry's mantan istri, or ex-wife.[3][17] She said that the label wrongly implied that she had entered the marriage voluntarily. She maintained that she had been coerced as a minor and that the union was invalid.[3][17] She described the request as a correction to the public record.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 2008 ceremony; validity and current status disputed[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ayah Manohara Dukung Fakhry" [Manohara's Father Supports Fakhry]. detikNews (in Indonesian). 6 July 2009. Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Azhar, Syed (14 December 2009). "Manohara ordered to return to husband". The Star. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Pinot, Manohara Odelia (5 January 2026). "Open Letter to Indonesian Media & Digital Platforms". Instagram. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Rudiman, Rudiman; Suryadi, Arfan; Andriansyah, Faisyal (2020). "Manohara Case Analysis to Understand Agenda Setting Theory". The International Journal of Politics and Sociology Research. 8 (3): 92–96.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Glionna, John M. (13 April 2010). "A fairy tale gone wrong". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Conley, Margaret (4 June 2009). "Teenage Model Flees 'Abusive' Royal Marriage". ABC News. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Menguak Hilangnya Manohara Odelia Pinot" [Uncovering the Disappearance of Manohara Odelia Pinot]. KapanLagi.com (in Indonesian). 19 April 2009. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 Budianto, Lilian (24 April 2009). "RI demands KL explain ban on anxious mother". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 Mandari, Presi (1 June 2009). "Indonesian model flees 'abusive' prince". The Sydney Morning Herald. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 31 December 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "Malaysian prince denies using teen as sex slave". NBC News. Associated Press. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Kelantan palace says marriage is personal". The Jakarta Post. Bernama. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "K'tan prince: Manohara's words meant I raped, abused and tortured her". The Edge Malaysia. Bernama. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Meikeng, Yuen (24 February 2010). "Manohara case: Court to decide on damages March 11". The Star. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Malaysian prince wins defamation suit against teen model wife". The Times. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  15. 1 2 3 "Manohara never complained of abuse, claims Kelantan Prince's cousin". The Star. Bernama. 15 November 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  16. ↑ YAM Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Ibn Sultan Ismail Petra v Manohara Odelia Pinot, 1 ShLR 30 (Syariah High Court, Kota Bharu 13 December 2009).
  17. 1 2 3 FP Explainers (6 January 2026). "Was Manohara Odelia Pinot, an Indonesian-American model, forced to marry Malaysian prince?". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 11 July 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Najib dodges queries on model". The Straits Times. Agence France-Presse. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  19. ↑ "Komnas HAM Indonesia Segera Surati Komnas HAM Malaysia" [Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission to Contact Its Malaysian Counterpart]. KapanLagi.com (in Indonesian). 25 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  20. 1 2 Harun, Ruhanas (2009). "Heating Up the Battle: The Role of the Media in the Souring of Malaysia-Indonesia Relations" (PDF). Journal of Media and Information Warfare: 37–62. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Khalid, Khadijah Md.; Yacob, Shakila (2012). "Managing Malaysia-Indonesia relations in the context of democratization: the emergence of non-state actors". International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. 12 (3): 355–387. doi:10.1093/irap/lcr024.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Noviandi, Ferry; Chozanah, Rosiana (30 January 2024). "Gagal Caleg dan Pensiun Jadi Artis, Manohara Kini Sibuk Jadi Aktivis Hewan" [After Failing to Win a Legislative Seat and Retiring from Showbiz, Manohara Is Now Busy as an Animal Activist]. Suara.com (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  23. ↑ Dzulkifly, Danial (14 January 2019). "After Agong's resignation, Kelantan prince's ex Manohara opens up on royal life". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
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