The heinous case of a police officer who allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl while she was at a police station in North Maluku has led to renewed calls to pass the sexual violence eradication bill (RUU PKS) in Indonesia.
According to reports, the incident occurred earlier this month, when the victim and her friend had to stay the night in Sidangoli, West Halmahera during a journey to Ternate. Around 1am on June 13, police suddenly showed up at their lodging and took them to Jailolo sub-precinct for questioning, seemingly without any legitimate reason.
The victim and her friend were then questioned in separate rooms. It was during this time that the victim was allegedly raped by a police officer identified as II, who had threatened jail time if she refused to have sex with him. The victim was slammed down to the ground and then forcefully stripped with her mouth covered. After raping her, II reportedly ejaculated on a piece of paper.
Local media outlets also reported that the victim and her friend were not allowed to leave the police station after the incident and had been briefly placed in a cell.
North Maluku Police spokesman Adip Rojikan said II has been arrested and named as a suspect in the case, and is currently detained at Ternate precinct. At the time of writing, police have yet to reveal more details about the alleged rape, but said that the victim has been offered support from the police’s Women and Children Protection Unit.
The case garnered traction among Indonesians on Twitter yesterday, after a news clip was posted by the user below along with the hashtag #SahkanRUUPKS (pass the sexual violence eradication bill), which activists and the public have been using to urge lawmakers to speed up deliberations of the draft that has been in limbo for about five years now.
#SahkanRUUPKS pic.twitter.com/IwOdxDEHF7
— Toety Ariela (@toety_ariela) June 22, 2021
The tweet above has been retweeted more than 20,000 times at the time of writing, as it continues bringing the case to light for other social media users in the country.
Read more news and updates from eastern Indonesia here.
Reader Interactions