Indonesia’s state-owned train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) has exercised its zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment, banning an alleged culprit for life after he was caught on tape.
A video has gone viral showing a male train passenger’s hand slowly encroaching the space of a female passenger who was sitting next to him. His hand eventually touched her leg, all the while the woman was discreetly recording the act of harassment. The man, who was masked, had his eyes glued to his phone during the video.
The victim posted the video on her Twitter account on the day of the incident. Coconuts has obtained her permission to include it in this story.
The video was taken on Sunday on board the Argo Lawu train bound for Jakarta from Solo. According to the victim’s follow-up tweets, he pulled back his hand when she warned him about the inappropriate touching, but he would touch her again soon after. She said he would also rub his crotch from outside his pants.
The victim then reported the man to a train conductor, who allowed her to move to another seat as per her request.
In a press release issued yesterday, PT KAI said that it has identified the culprit in the video. His national ID number has been added to the company’s passenger blacklist, meaning he will not be able to board any trains in Indonesia where personal documents are screened prior to departure.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) is calling on authorities to charge the man with sexual harassment, which is punishable by up to four years in prison under the new Sexual Violence Law.
In light of this incident, PT KAI has also published a PSA informing victims not to hesitate to report sexual harassment culprits to train employees or by sending DMs to the company’s official social media accounts. PT KAI said it is committed to ban culprits for life and aid victims in pressing criminal charges against them.
