The South Tangerang Police arrested a driver for ride-sharing app Grab over allegations that he tried to blackmail his passengers with the threat of spreading their incriminating video if they didn’t pay him a hefty sum of money.
The driver, identified as 27-year-old RA, used an on-board camera to record footage of his passengers, NS and LN, carrying out an “immoral” act (some reports say they were making out) in the back seat.
“At first, the two victims used the services of the driver on July 29 at 1:30 pm to go from the Sekolah Tinggi Perikanan to Pondok Rumput, Bogor. When they arrived at their destination, the victim was threatened (that their video will be spread) and they were blackmailed,” said Ahmad Alexander, head of the Crime Investigation Unit at the South Tangerang Police, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
At first, NS gave RA Rp50,000, which was all the cash that he had on him. Later, RA continued to threaten NS over the phone, first asking for Rp1 million, about USD75, in blackmail money before raising it to Rp1.5 million, or USD112.
NS soon reported RA to the police. The police then arrested RA in a sting operation, in which NS arranged a meeting with his blackmailer at a restaurant in BSD telling him that he was going to pay the rest of the blackmail money.
RA could face up to 9 years in prison for blackmail.
Public displays of affection is somewhat of a legal grey area in Indonesia. While there is no specific law forbidding it, there have been cases in the past where people carrying out acts of intimacy privately and with consent were criminally charged after being accused of violating laws against adultery and pornography, among others.
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