Police in Batam are investigating allegations that a Buddhist monk living on Batam Island kept five minors for forced labor while sexually abusing three of them in his temple in the district of Nongsa.
The children have been rescued by a local organization of Sundanese residents on the island who heard over the weekend that the monk had been sexually abusing a little girl.
“I received information that the monk, Yo Chi Su AKA Hendra allegedly sexually abused a girl named (by her initials) SA,” said Sinta, the organization’s head, as quoted by Sindonews yesterday.
Sinta and several other members of her organization went to the temple to ask for SA. Caretakers at the temple initially agreed to give up SA, but Sinta and her peers ended up taking her by force after they saw that the caretakers were contacting their lawyer.
After securing SA, she told them that there were four other minors – two boys and two girls – in the temple being forced to work. SA also said that she had been raped twice by the monk, and that the two other girls had also experienced the same fate.
Sinta’s organization then sought the help of the police to free the other four. The police are now investigating the trafficking and sexual abuse allegations, starting with sending the freed children for medical exams.
The police have not yet named the monk or anyone working in the temple as crime suspects.
