A 65-year-old mayor is facing scrutiny after it was reveled he married a 16-year-old girl days after appointing her mother to a high ranking municipal post.
RELATED STORIES: GOP Lawmaker Defends Supporting 12-Year-olds’ Right To Marry
Aracáuria Mayor Hissam Hussein Dehaini married Kauane Rode Dehaini on April 15, days after she turned 16. The Brazilian mayor who has been married six times, recently named his bride’s mother, Marilene Rode, secretary of Culture and Tourism days before the wedding as reported by G1.
In addition to the new hire, Rode was given a $1500 raise. Her sister, Elizangela Rode, also worked as the city’s planning secretary since October 2022. On Tuesday, Mayor Dehaini removed the two women from their positions after Paraná state prosecutors said they were investigating whether he used his influence to hire family members to work in high ranking government positions.
RELATED STORIES: 13-Year-Old Boy Groomed And Abducted By Man He Met On Twitter
The city said in a statement that Marilene Rode has worked for the city of Aracauría since August 2021 when she was named advisor to the municipal secretary. A few days later she was promoted to a position as Mayor Dehaini’s executive assistant.
‘The servant in question meets the necessary conditions for the exercise of the position, since she has 26 years of experience in the public service.’
In January 2022, she was named as director of the Aracauría Department of Education. In 2019, Dehaini was previously under investigation by Civil Society Organization of Public Interest for his hiring practices after it was discovered he hired his previous wife’s family members for government positions. He was cleared for any wrong doing. In 2000, Dehaini was arrested for drug-trafficking charges after accusations of bribing drug trafficking. He was not convicted for any of the charges.
The mayor has 16 children from his previous marriages and married his first wife in 1980.
Social media also reacted to his marriage to his teen bride as it occurred four days after she turned 16.