Wednesday October 19, 2005
Rowdies spoil Brazilians’ wedding ceremony
BY MARSHA TAN
JOHOR BARU: “It was supposed to be a dream wedding but it turned into a nightmare.”
That was how Brazilian Andre Duarte described his wedding ceremony at Rawa Safaris Island Resort on Pulau Rawa, an island 16km off Mersing, which ended up being gate-crashed by six men who also attacked his guests on Saturday night.
Duarte, 31, a market analyst, and his Brazilian bride Simone Ribero, 36, managing director of a trading company, both based in Singapore, had booked rooms at the resort as early as July and spent about S$10,000 (RM22,300) to host the wedding and reception there.
They had been looking forward to a great time at the resort with family and friends who had flown in from Brazil to join the celebrations.
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SHORT-LIVED JOY: Duarte (also inset) giving Ribero a kiss after their wedding celebrations on Pulau Rawa on Saturday. |
“Then the men went to the bar area and smashed all the glasses and started throwing wild punches at everyone,” Duarte said yesterday.
Duarte and a few other male guests caught hold of the men and managed to drag them back to the beach. But the nightmare was not over because 15 minutes later, they came back, this time armed with bamboo torches and belts.
They were taken back to the beach numerous times, but the rowdy group kept coming back, each time with more weapons, including a piece of wood, golf clubs, bricks and a kitchen knife.
“We did not retaliate because we did not know what other weapons they had and I was more worried about the elderly, and women and children than anything else at that moment,” Duarte said.
“It was supposed to have been the best day of my life, but instead we felt more like hostages as we were stuck at the jetty.
“I feel really unhappy about the matter because I was responsible for the safety of my guests.”
The newly-weds are currently in Thailand on their honeymoon.
Duarte said he sustained bruises to his face and neck during the attack.
“We decided to have our wedding at Pulau Rawa because it is such a beautiful place and I have had some good experiences there,” said Duarte.
“But after this incident, I will not go back there again, unless something is done to ensure that such things never happen again.”
He claimed that the police were informed about the incident about midnight but arrived four hours later due to the low tide.
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