Malaysian royal sues model wife for $30 mln

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE. A Malaysian prince on Monday filed a 105 million ringgit (29.6 million dollar) defamation suit against his estranged model wife for alleging he sexually abused her.

Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Kelantan state, filed the suit claiming both Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother had made defamatory allegations about him, state media said.

In May, Manohara slipped away from the prince's guards at a Singapore hotel and returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of the 31-year-old prince.

She later told reporters she was treated like a sex slave after her marriage last year to Tengku Fakhry, whose father is the sultan of Kelantan.

The prince's lawyer, Mohamad Haaziq Pillay, said he would serve a writ on Manohara and her mother Daisy Fajarina, who are both in Indonesia.

"They have 21 days to enter a (response).... Anyone can say anything but do they have proof? This is the time for them to come forward and prove their allegations," he was quoted as telling state news agency Bernama.

Last month, Tengku Fakhry denied abusing his teenage US-Indonesian model wife and threatened to launch legal action against her for making false allegations.

Manohara -- a well-known socialite in Jakarta -- claims to have been cut with a razor and injected with drugs which made her vomit blood while being held under guard in her bedroom at the palace.

Her lawyer said she had filed a police report on the abuse but Indonesian police say they are unable to investigate as the incidents took place outside their jurisdiction. (AFP)