In Indonesia, many women routinely run the risk of being sexually harassed in public places, with many female pedestrians experiencing harassment ranging from cat calling to physical assault on a daily basis.
Yesterday, in Jakarta’s neighboring city of Depok, CCTV footage emerged online showing an unsuspecting female pedestrian having her breast groped by a motorcyclist who then drove away after carrying out the heinous act.
According to the 22-year-old victim, the incident occurred at 2:29pm on Jalan Kuningan Datuk, a narrow street off the city’s major thoroughfare of Jalan Margonda Raya. She reported the harassment to the police and is hoping the video can go viral so that the culprit is caught. She has also obtained the motorcycle’s license plate number.
The Depok City Police said that the victim filed an official complaint today and that they will carry out an investigation.
“We will gather evidence to pursue the culprit,” said Depok City Police Crime Investigation Unit head Putu Kholis Aryana, as quoted by Kompas today.
One of our most popular articles last year was written by guest writer Kate Walton, a woman’s right activist living in Jakarta, who wrote an eye-opening piece about a social experiment in which she live-tweeted getting sexually harassed 13 times on her brief walk from her home to a mall.
The result inspired many women in the capital to share similar experiences, indicating that it’s a hardship they all face when they’re out in public on a daily basis, no matter how modestly they dress (the woman in the above video, for example, was wearing a hijab at the time of the assault).
