Suspected breast groper in Depok apologizes to victim and says he did it ‘for fun’, more allegations surface

CCTV footage showing moments after a motorcyclist groped a woman’s breast in Depok, Indonesia on January 11, 2017.
CCTV footage showing moments after a motorcyclist groped a woman’s breast in Depok, Indonesia on January 11, 2017.

Following the arrest of suspected breast groper in Depok on Monday evening, whose despicable act was caught by a CCTV camera, the authorities gave the suspect a chance to meet with his alleged victim face-to-face to apologize yesterday.

The police said the 29-year-old suspect, identified by his initial, I, regretted sexually harassing the victim, identified as 22-year-old Amanda, and that he has apologized directly to her.

“He did it spontaneously, he did it for fun after seeing a woman walking alone in a quiet area,” said Putu Kholis Aryana, head of the Crime Investigation Unit at the Depok City Police, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.

I has been charged with indecency under the KUHP (Criminal Code), which is punishable by up to 2 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. Amanda has also indicated that she will not drop the charges against him, regardless of whether he apologized or not.

The incident occurred last Thursday afternoon. Amanda was walking alone on Jalan Kuningan Datuk, a narrow street off Depok’s major thoroughfare of Jalan Margonda Raya, when I allegedly came up from behind her on a motorcycle and groped her breast before driving off. Thankfully, a CCTV camera installed on the street caught the incident and the footage went viral online. Four days later, the city’s police identified I as the suspected and arrested him.

Though I has said that this was a one-off offense, his arrest has inspired more women to come forward and share similar distressing experiences. Enny, a Depok resident, told Kumparan that she too was groped on the same day that Amanda was, though later in the evening.

According to Enny, she was carrying shopping bags using both hands when a motorcyclist who was driving towards her suddenly groped her breast.

“He suddenly groped me while on the move. As a woman, I was shocked. And then I shouted curses at him, but he didn’t stop (driving away),” she said, as quoted by Kumparan.

“I cried as soon as I got home because when I was screaming [for help], none of my neighbors cared enough to help.”

Enny added that she did not report the incident to the police due to a lack of evidence, as there were no CCTV cameras in the area. She reported the incident to her neighborhood’s chief, whose only reaction was to alert other neighborhood chiefs in the area to be wary of a possible breast groper.

Enny said that women practically have no choice but to protect themselves and be extra vigilant while out in public, regardless of how modestly they dress.

“I thought that to be harassed one must wear sexy clothes, whereas I didn’t. That’s why I’ve been calm [while out in public] all these days. It turns out that the culprits would settle to touch anything and anyone, as long as they can touch,” she said.

While Amanda’s attacker, I, has not been identified as the same person who groped Enny, it seems that he may have lied about his assault on Amanda being a one-off as another woman reported having her breast groped by a motorcyclist in the same area last September by a man driving a motorcycle with a license plate number that matches his.

But I is far from the only breast groper on a motorcycle in Indonesia, where similar attacks are unfortunately common. Another alleged breast groper was arrested in Lamongan, East Java last Friday while two were caught in the act and arrested in Berau, East Borneo last month. Netizens have also reported women having their breasts groped in Jogjakarta, Central Java over the past week, though nobody has been arrested.



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