As if the nightmare of having their daughter being sexually abused by their neighbor was not enough, a couple from Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, says they were then forced to mortgage a relative’s vehicle just to raise the money the police told them they had to pay for an official examination and report on their daughter’s abuse.
Abdul Samad and Tinin Faithful Anggraeni were devastated when they found out that their three-and-a-half year old daughter had been sexually abused by their neighbor, a 57-year-old man identified as DA, last Friday.
But they say their attempts to bring DA to justice have been so convoluted and costly that they have brought the matter to the media’s attention.
The couple says that when they first tried to report DA’s crime to the Police’s Women and Children’s Services Unit (PPA) in Central Jakarta, they were told by an officer that they would have to pay the police Rp 1.2 million to cover the costs of an official examination of their daughter and “generating a report.”
“I was angry and sad when the policewoman said we had to have Rp 1.2 million for the examination and the report. But, since I only had the money Rp 500,000, my husband went home looking for a loan. Alhamdulillah, his aunt lent us a bike to be pawned,” said Titin, as quoted by Tribunnews.
Titin brought her daughter to the hospital, where she had to pay Rp 867,726 for her daughter’s examination that was needed to file the police report.
However, police public relations officer Roma Hutajulu denied that such fees were not charged in sexual abuse investigations and that the all of the related costs should be paid for by the government. Roma said the officers PPA Unit officers, who Titin and Samad said asked for the Rp 1.2 million fee, would be investigated.
Back in July, there was a similar story about a woman who was forced to drop her case against her daughter’s abuser because she could not handle all the costs, including around Rp 500,000 for her daughter’s examination required to make the report.
