Shock twist after 65-year-old millionaire marries 16-year-old schoolgirl
The newlyweds are raising eyebrows over more than just their massive age gap.
A millionaire 65-year-old mayor who wed a 16-year-old high school student has quit his political party amid claims that he was once seized over drugs charges.
Hissam Hussein Dehaini raised eyebrows when he married Kauane Rode Camargo - a former child beauty queen - earlier this month. But now the wealthy Brazilian businessman has resigned from his party amid backlash following the wedding.
Brazilian media have revealed that Mr Dehaini was detained for over 100 days in 2000 after giving evidence at a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on drug trafficking. It was claimed he ran a Breaking Bad-style drugs refining lab and allegedly protected traffickers by arranging deals with the police.
The investigation was later dropped and Dehaini - now worth BRL 14 million (AUD 4.3 million) - went on to become a top businessman and politician in Araucaria, in the state of Parana.
However, the strain of the scandal over his young bride has forced him to resign from his Cidadania political party, it has emerged. The wedding - on April 12th - came after two of his bride's closest relatives were given top jobs on his staff. Ms Camargo's 36-year-old mother was made the new Municipal Secretary of Culture and Tourism, while her aunt was appointed Secretary General Director.
Dahaini is serving his second term as mayor with 68.49 per cent of the vote. In his 2016 election campaign, he boasted that his family would never be a burden on the public purse because they were all successful in business. But within weeks, he had appointed his daughters and his then wife to prominent positions on the public payroll.
The new First Lady of Araucaria is still at school and has to juggle her duties as mayoress with classes. Dahaini said of his third bride: "We are happy. She does me good and I do her good and together we are not doing anyone any harm."
In Brazil, marriage at 16 is legal with parental permission and the country is reportedly the fifth biggest in the world for underage marriages.
- Newsflash/Australscope
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