Young couples in an Indonesian district will have to marry each other immediately if caught alone after 9pm, to prevent premarital sex, a report said today, citing a local official.

Raids by the neighbourhood chief and security guards would implement the rule, said Dedi Mulyadi, the head of Purwakarta district in West Java province, according to Kabar24.com news website.

If a man has not left his girlfriend's house by the appointed time, “they will be forced to get married,” Dedi told nearly 200 village chiefs during a gathering yesterday, Kabar24.com reported.

“Agree!” the village chiefs responded, according to the report.

Dedi said the rule would be implemented throughout the district from September. Failure to implement the rule would result in village aid being withheld, he said.

“We want to create a Purwakarta that is cultured.”

One village chief, Dadan Jakaria, said he had already implemented such a rule.

“We have erected roadlocks and we require visiting boyfriends to surrender their ID card or student card,” he was quoted as saying.

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country but attitudes towards pre-marital sex are increasingly liberal.

- dpa