A 14-year-old rape victim in Lampung province became the victim of another alleged sexual assault at the hands of an official who was supposed to provide her counseling and protection, a case of which has incited rage from the Indonesian public.
The victim, identified by her initials NF, was staying at a women’s shelter managed by East Lampung regency’s Integrated Center for Women and Children Empowerment office (P2TP2A). NF revealed that she was molested by a man identified as DA, who heads the office’s technical service unit.
NF said she couldn’t fight back because DA threatened to harm her if she reported him, with the latest assault having taken place on June 28. NF also said she was sold off to an employee of a local hospital.
“After [the hospital employee] did it to me, I was given IDR700,000 (US$48.32). IDR500,000 was for me, and I was told to give the IDR200,000 to DA,” NF said on Saturday.
“If I didn’t obey him, DA [said] he would chop me to pieces, I was afraid so I was forced to follow what he wanted.”
DA’s depraved acts came to light after NF ran away from the P2TP2A office and recounted her story to her uncle last Thursday.
Sugiyanto, NF’s father, expressed his disappointment, as he had initially sought protection and assistance at the government institution for his daughter, who was raped by an unidentified man prior to this recent incident.
“I definitely can’t accept this. Instead of protecting my daughter, she was coerced into committing immoral acts. I believed them all this time because [DA] wears the civil servant uniform. [They] claim to be a child protection [unit] but turned out to be savage,” Sugiyanto said.
Sugiyanto filed a report to the Lampung Police on Friday, hoping to get justice for NF and for DA to be punished accordingly.
“My child was threatened, that’s why she didn’t dare to talk to me. I knew it from a relative, they asked me to promise not to hit, not to get angry [at NF] after finding out about it,” he continued.
The Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) of Bandar Lampung says that it is providing legal assistance to NF. Anugrah Prima, a member of the foundation’s advocacy team, said that there’s a strong suspicion that NF is not the only victim, but no one else has come forward yet due to DA’s position.
“Don’t let this case evaporate just because the suspect’s status as a civil servant at a government agency. It’s possible that there are other victims besides NF, because according to her there are two more victims of sexual violence committed by DA,” Anugrah said.
