KUALA KANGSAR: The Lower Syariah Court here has confirmed the pronouncement of divorce uttered by Muhammed Afandi Amir, 38, in mid-October on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor, 32, a former part-time model who is waiting for a caning sentence to be meted for consuming alcohol.Syarie judge Burhanuddin Ismi Adam said based on the statement by Kartika Sari Dewi as the plaintiff, Muhammed Afandi had clearly uttered the divorce pronouncement twice, in mid-October and on Feb 10, 2009.
He said that based on the testimony at the hearing yesterday, both pronouncements were found to be valid as the defendant had clearly said he had divorced his wife.
However, he said the court only took into account the first pronouncement of divorce uttered in mid-October at 1pm as being valid, and after Kartika Sari Dewi had completed her ‘edah’ or three-month grace period after the divorce on Dec 17 of the same year, both individuals were no longer husband and wife.
He said this also meant that the second pronouncement on Feb 10, 2009 was considered invalid as the defendant no longer had any say on the plaintiff as they were no longer husband and wife.
Burhanuddin Ismi said he regretted the attitude of the defendant who treated the matter lightly and had not immediately reported to the court after uttering the first divorce pronouncement.
Muhammed Afandi, a network engineer with a foreign news agency, had married Kartika Sari Dewi in Singapore in 1997 and they have two children, Mohamad Azfar, 7, and Wann Kaitlynn Saridewi, 5.
Muhammed Afandi said he did not rule out the possibility of remarrying Kartika Sari Dewi for the sake of the children.
On July 20 last year, the Kuantan Syariah High Court had imposed a fine of RM5,000 and six strokes of the cane on Kartika Sari Dewi who was found guilty of consuming alcohol. She had paid the fine but was still waiting for the six strokes to be meted out. — Bernama