Jilted bride seeks RM25,000 in compensation

Jilted bride seeks RM25,000 in compensation
By Chong Chee Seong

MUAR, Wed:
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Norlida Abdul Rahman went to court today to seek more than RM25,000 in compensation.

More than the money, the 23-year-old nurse is seeking redemption after suffering the humiliation of being jilted by Kedah footballer Hasmawi Hassan on her wedding day.

Her lawyer, K. Siladass, who filed the suit on her behalf in the High Court here this afternoon, said Hasmawi had 12 days to enter his defence.

Speaking briefly to reporters and TV crews outside the court, Norlida said there was still no word from Hasmawi. "I am in the dark as to why he stood me up. I am dying to know why he did this.

Norlida is taking action against Hasmawi for breach of promise to marry her. He informed her via SMS that he was calling off the marriage.

Over 1,000 guests were there to witness the akad nikah ceremony.

In her statement of claim, Norlida said:

l Hasmawi had misled her into believing that he was sincere in wanting to marry her;

l he had induced her into believing that the solemnisation and wedding ceremony would be held as stated;

l that based on his false promise, he had caused Norlida and her family to spend money on wedding preparations;

l that he had caused shame, anxiety and financial loss by not showing up for the wedding ceremony.

Norlida is seeking compensation for the RM25,470 spent on her engagement and wedding preparations.

Norlida claimed she had suffered anxiety, embarrassment, shame, mental agony and pain because of Hasmawi’s breach of promise and in turn, had subjected her family to adverse comments, criticism and rumours about her integrity by relatives and friends.

In the court document, she said she was introduced to the professional footballer in Penang on 200l, when she was stationed there as a trainee nurse. She said they courted in Bukit Mertajam and fell in love subsequently and had on various occasions discussed the prospect of marriage.

After about two years of courtship, they decided to get engaged at her house in Kluang, a ceremony which was attended by relatives and friends from both families. On the day of engagement, both were blessed by the respective families and had agreed that the wedding ceremony be held one year later.

"Hasmawi had proposed that we have our honeymoon overseas. He had also promised me a better life and future. I was truly in love with him and had no reason to doubt his promises," she said in the statement of claim.

In September this year, Hasmawi agreed that the wedding be fixed on Nov 27, but later changed it to Dec 18 as he had to play for the Kedah team in the Malaysia Cup semifinal match against Sabah in Kota Kinabalu.

Norlida said her family then went about preparing for the wedding at great expense.

The solemnisation ceremony was supposed to be held on Dec l7. However, at 2am on Dec l7, barely l9 hours before the ceremony, Hasmawi informed her that the wedding was off via a short message service (SMS). [http://www.nst.com.my/ Current_News/ NST/Thursday/ Frontpage/ 20041223101924/ Article/ indexb_html]