Wives of rubber tapper against child marriage

PETALING JAYA: The first two wives of a 41-year-old rubber tapper who took a child bride as his third spouse have said that they are against the marriage.
"We have said to him, it is us or that girl," his second wife was quoted by The New York Times as saying on Sunday. "We said, you choose. You cannot have all three of us."
She complained that her husband never gave her enough money to care for their four children, including one with spina bifida which is a spine disorder.
The second wife works as a baker to pay her bills.
"He is so stingy with us, but he has enough money to get married to Ayu and take her on holiday," she said, referring to a trip to a hill retreat that the man posted about on social media.
Ayu was the only one of the wives allowed to ride in their husband's Mazda sports car, the report said.
"Their father never takes care of them (their children)," she said. "He doesn't even like children. Except one. That Ayu."
The NYT report said the rubber tapper lives in a modern villa and he owns a Mazda RX-8. His first wife runs a restaurant and grocery next door.
One of her employees was Ayu's mother. Ayu often accompanied her mother to work as she did not go to school.
Ayu was said to have been taken to a hospital for a virginity test this month, but later the same day was reunited with her husband and has been with him often since, family members said.
"I love her," the report quoted the husband as saying. He said he would not "touch" his new wife until she was 16 years old.
For her part, Ayu said in a text message that she loved her husband, who has six children with his two other wives. She used a heart emoticon to describe him, the report added.