On this otherwise auspicious day that is Valentine’s Day, police in Bali announced that a couple was arrested for allegedly luring a man by pretending to be a sex worker only to later extort money from him.
REK, 23, and his girlfriend BS, 25, reportedly extorted Sriaji, 32, who filed a report to the police. A minor, LD, was reportedly involved as the suspects’ accomplice.
Denpasar Police Chief Bambang Yugo Pamungkas said today that Sriaji accused the suspects – including the minor – of extortion.
“They used MiChat for online dating and published certain rates [for sex work] to extort victims,” said Bambang, referring to the messaging app that’s synonymous with sex work in Indonesia.
Sriaji reportedly agreed to meet with a woman named “Indri” last Friday at 2am at a hostel in South Denpasar. The agreed upon rate was IDR500,000 (US$32.96).
Upon meeting, Indri, who is BS under a fake identity, began massaging Sriaji for five minutes in their room. REK, claiming to be her husband, as well as LD, suddenly barged into the room and began assaulting and extorting Sriaji.
REK and LD later forced Sriaji to withdraw IDR2 million (US$131.86) from his account at a nearby ATM.
Bambang said that REK, BS, and LD had carried out the same MO at least on four different occasions before the arrest. REK and BS reportedly have a one-year-old child together and the couple use the baby as an excuse for committing the crime. The diapers that they said were bought using the extorted money have been confiscated by the police.
REK had previously served jail time for drug-related offenses.
Under Indonesian law, the suspects may face 12 years in prison if proven guilty of extortion, but the minor may receive some leniency under the Child Trial Act.
