KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran actress Abby Abadi of Gerak Khas fame believes that it is not right to point fingers at women whenever polygamy occurs.
The mother of controversial social media influencer Marissa Dania Hakim said in an interview with Harian Metro yesterday that she firmly believed in the old saying that "it takes two to tango".
Abby or Arbaiyah Abdul Manan, 46, said that as Marissa's mother, she felt that netizens had unfairly accused her daughter of being a "hubby-stealer" by becoming the second wife of a businessman known only as Aslam.
"We should not be pointing fingers at her, and absolving Aslam of blame. Worse, we should not be calling her 'penyondol' (hubby-stealer) for it takes two to tango," said Abby, adding that netizens should always hear two sides of the story.
"We do not know what happened between Aslam and his first wife. We should not be quick to judge others."
Abby admitted that her first marriage came to an end because of a "third party" but she never blamed her former husband's second wife for "wrecking" her marriage.
In 2009, Abby and her fellow Gerak Khas star Norman Hakim were divorced after a seven-year marriage.
The previous year, he was caught for khalwat with actress Memey Suhaiza, his current wife.
Abby hoped that netizens would "leave Marissa alone" and respect her privacy as well as Aslam's.
"Umisya and Marissa have learnt to accept each other. We should pray for their well-being and leave them alone."
On Feb 7, it was reported that Aslam, 25, and Marissa, 19, had secretly married in Songkhla, Thailand on Dec 27 last year. This happened while Umisya was performing her Umrah.
Umisya revealed last September that Marissa was the third party involved in her divorce from Aslam.
Aslam and Umisya, however, reconciled after her 'edah' (waiting) period.