In a shocking display of questionable ethics, a high-ranking official marries a girl nearly 50 years his junior, igniting a scandal that exposes potential nepotism and corruption in the political sphere.
This month, a scandal erupted in Brazil after a 65-year-old mayor married a girl 49 years his junior, legally wed the day after her 16th birthday, and then promptly appointed her mother to a high-ranking position. Hissam Hussein Dehaini, the mayor of Araucária City in southern Brazil, not only stirred up controversy with his marriage to a significantly younger girl but also faced serious accusations of nepotism and corruption.
The Brazilian state of Paraná’s Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating the appointment of the young bride’s mother as the Secretary of Culture and Tourism in Araucária just one day following the wedding.
Under Brazilian law, 16-year-olds can only marry with their parents’ consent. Thus, many viewed the appointment of Marilene Rode, the bride’s mother, to a well-paid position in the municipality’s administration on April 13th as a thinly veiled bribe. Although Rode was already an official in the Ministry of Education, she previously held a position with lower pay and less influence.
The mayor’s controversial marriage and appointment of his mother-in-law caused an uproar in Araucária, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Curitiba. The scandal escalated further upon discovering that Hilda Lukalski Seima, the head of the city’s Civil Registry and deputy mayor, had officiated the marriage. Both Seima and Dehaini ran for elections in 2016 and 2020.
In response to the allegations, the mayor’s office issued a statement that only fueled the fire, asserting that the appointment was a “discretionary act of the head of the Executive Power” and that Rode had the necessary qualifications for the position due to her 26 years of public service experience. The Prosecutor’s Office, however, disagrees, leading to a turbulent situation for Mayor Dehaini and his 16-year-old wife, a former teenage beauty queen of the city.
This shocking turn of events highlights the corruption and questionable ethics that can occur in politics, even in the most seemingly innocuous of appointments. The case serves as a reminder that our leaders must be held accountable for their actions and that the public must remain vigilant in scrutinizing the decisions made by those in power.
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Source: Odditycentral