Police have formally announced charges against the suspect in one of the most tragic criminal stories in Indonesia in recent times, which saw a small boy killed while defending her mother from a rapist.
Samsul, the sole suspect in the rape of a woman and the murder of her 9-year-old child in East Aceh, has been charged with violations of separate articles on murder and rape under the KUHP (criminal code), as well as violation of the Child Protection Law.
“The suspect may face up to 20 years in prison [for the KUHP violations] and/or 10 years in prison [for the Child Protection Law violations],” Langsa Police Crime Investigation Unit Head Arief Sukmo Wibowo said at a press conference today.
According to local police, on Friday, the 9-year-old victim was at home with his mother in Biren Bayuen subdistrict, East Aceh. Samsul broke into the house while the occupants were asleep and the victim’s father out fishing.
Samsul then raped the boy’s mother. When the boy woke up after hearing his mother’s struggles, he tried to attack Samsul. Sadly, Samsul hacked the boy numerous times with a machete, killing him.
Samsul fled the house and took the boy’s body with him as he went into hiding. On Sunday morning, the police located Samsul, who swung his machete at police officers to resist arrest. The officers shot him in the legs three times and made an arrest.
The boy’s body, which was full of hack wounds from Samsul’s machete, was recovered by a river near his home.
Samsul previously received an 18-year sentence for murder. However, 15 years into his sentence, he became one among the thousands of prisoners who were recently granted early release as the government sought to prevent coronavirus infections in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
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