A 65-year-old Mayor of Araucaria, Hissam Hussein Dehaini, is under scrutiny after tying the knot with a 16-year-old beauty queen and promoted her mother to a top job, according to reports.
Araucaria is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Paraná.
The couple met at a social event in the city, according to reports.
Dehaini who is in his second term as mayor, divorced his second wife last year and reportedly wed his teen bride, Kauane Rode Camargo, last month.
The high school student last year participated in the Miss Araucária contest, in the teen category for girls aged 15 to 17, and came second.
A day after the mayor married Kauane Rode Camargo on April 12, Kauane’s mother Marilene Rode was promoted to Secretary of Culture of Araucária. She had been a general secretary beforehand, reports stated.
Marilene’s sister, Elizângela Rode, is also a commissioner at City Hall.
The local council reportedly refused to comment on the wedding to Banda B as it is a personal matter.
According to the Brazilian Civil Code “man and woman aged sixteen can marry, requiring authorization from both parents, or their legal representatives, until they reach the age of civil majority”.
According to an organization ‘Girls not Brides’, more than 2.2 million minors are married in Brazil.
Flávia Gomes Cordeiro, a prosecutor of Piauí, said child marriage for girls causes a life of “domestic service, lack of professional training, exclusion from the labor market, school dropout and restriction of mobility and freedom”.
Hora Brasilia reported “the union of Kauane and Hissam has been seen as an example of true love and overcoming prejudices.”
