TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) Arist Merdeka Sirait has said that West Java has the third highest incidence rate of child abuse in Indonesia.
From 21 million reports of violence in 2013, 38 percent of the reports were made in West Java. “From that figure, 52 percent of the cases are sexual violence against minors,” said Arist on Thursday, August 14, 2014.
What’s startling is that 82 percent of the perpetrators are usually closely related with the victims—with fathers, uncles, and neighbors topping the list. “Child sexual abuse in West Java has reached a horrifying height and could even be classified as an emergency,” added Arist.
Arist believes that there is a real possibility that the incidence is higher than what is reported because sexual crimes in West Java does not seized as much attention compared to crimes of a similar nature in Jakarta. Take into account the recent cases involving serial pedophiles Obar Sobarli and Emon. When combined, their lists of victims surpasse the 100 mark, but none of their cases were known to the public prior to the scandal at the Jakarta International School (JIS). “Emon committed his crimes quite some time ago, but the public is only just learning about it after the JIS scandal,” he said.
After Emon and Obar, who were arrested after molesting 21 minors, another case surfaced in West Java that shocked the people—AP, 44-year-old, was arrested after his own daughter YS reported him to the police about the sexual abuses she had received since she was 11. The daughter had constantly been threatened with death if she refused to submit to her father’s demands. “It turns out all these cases began in 2007,” said Arist. AP is now in police custody.
Chief of Bandung City Police Sr. Comr. Mashudi said that AP abused his daughter for seven years. in 2012, she became pregnant and gave birth to a child. ”We are going to perform a DNA analysis to see if it matches the child’s birth father.” If the DNA matches AP instead, he will be facing multiple charges.
After she gave birth, AP arranged for YS to marry but her husband passed away in 2013, leaving AP free to resume abusing YS. YS claimed that AP last harassed her in June, but AP was underplaying the severity of the incidence.
“It was only an ordinary sexual harassment,” said AP to the police.
SUNDARI | IQBAL T. LAZUARDI |
