"The bride who wanted a small wedding" unusually quiet... The 'twist' revealed after the wedding

An Indonesian man only discovered that his wife was actually a man after marrying his girlfriend of over a year. On the 28th (local time), Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Mr. A, a man from Naringgung on Java Island, was shocked to learn 12 days after his wedding last month that his wife, Mr. B, was male.

Mr. A first met Mr. B last year through social networking services (SNS). The two quickly became close online and planned to meet in person. Mr. A said, "Whenever my wife met me, she always wore traditional Muslim attire that covered her entire face. She claimed to be a devout Muslim." He took this as a sign of her devotion to Islam and did not suspect anything unusual.

Wedding photo of an Indonesian couple who got married after dating for over a year. Later, the wife was revealed to be a man.
[Photo by SCMP]

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When they were preparing for the wedding, the wife said she had no family to attend the ceremony. Accordingly, the couple held a small wedding at Mr. A's home on the 12th of last month. They did not officially register their marriage. However, even after the wedding, Mr. B continued to wear a hijab at home and avoided conversations with Mr. A's family. She also refused sexual relations citing reasons such as menstruation. Suspicious of his wife's behavior, Mr. A began investigating Mr. B and tracked down her family's address. As a result, it was revealed that Mr. B was neither an orphan as claimed nor were her parents deceased; they were all alive and well.

It turned out that Mr. B was a man who had been cross-dressing and pretending to be a woman since 2020. According to police investigations, Mr. B admitted to marrying Mr. A to steal his assets. The police noted that when Mr. B wore makeup, he looked like a woman, and his somewhat high-pitched voice could deceive those who did not suspect anything. Mr. B is currently detained by the police on fraud charges. Under local law, Mr. B could face up to four years in prison. Netizens reacted to the news with comments such as, "What is this? It’s shaking my worldview," and "Mr. A is facing a huge ordeal, losing both his marriage and money."

Previously, in South Korea, controversy arose when it was revealed that the fianc? of former national fencing representative Nam Hyun-hee was female. In March last year, Nam Hyun-hee announced her remarriage to Mr. Jeon Cheong-jo, who was said to be a third-generation chaebol heir. When Mr. Jeon's face was revealed, online debates about his gender surfaced. A police background check showed that Mr. Jeon's registered gender was female. Subsequently, it was uncovered that Mr. Jeon had committed fraud by pretending to be a chaebol heir in the past. Currently, Mr. Jeon is on trial for fraud involving approximately 3 billion won and was additionally indicted on the 29th for assaulting and threatening Nam’s nephew with a golf club.

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