Indonesian polygamy smartphone app lets men look for multiple wives online

Faces backlash even in a country where it’s technically legal to have more than one wife.

While some Japanese people have different opinions on what constitutes as cheating, having an affair is generally frowned upon throughout the world.

Polygamy, however, is legal in Indonesia. And in a country with the highest population of Muslims in the world, one software developer by the name of Lindu Pranayama hoped to help other men find another one or two more wives.

After realizing the Internet lacked dedicated polygamy websites or smartphone apps, Lindu decided to create an app of his own called AyoPologami, which loosely translates to “Let’s do polygamy”.

▼ We have to imagine that something like this
is what he envisioned when creating it.

Despite polygamy being legally recognized, Indonesian men are only allowed to take on more wives if the first one gives consent, cannot bear children, or is disabled. With strict regulations in place, it’s no wonder AyoPologami has stirred controversy since its launch in April this year.

Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped the app from attaining over 37,000 registered users within six months of release, prompting Indriyati Suparno, a commissioner from the National Commission on Violence Against Women, to label it as an attempt to “normalise polygamy.”

“The reality is women tend to be the victims of domestic violence in a polygamous marriage — polygamy is a form of violence against women,” she said.

The app has also been plagued with claims of men using false information to gain access to and manipulate women, not to mention that fake accounts have been created and men have been accused of using it without their first wives’ knowledge.

A new version of AyoPologami has been recently released with stricter rules in place, forcing users to provide identification, marital status, and a letter of consent from their first wives.

Such an app probably wouldn’t do well in a place like Japan, where polygamy has been abolished since time immemorial. Never mind a second wife, one in three Japanese don’t even want to get married in the first place.

Source: AyoPologami via Oddity Central, Channel News Asia
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso

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