A 15-year-old girl, identified by the initial S, was sexually assaulted by six young men in Tangerang last week, the latest in a string of horrifying cases of sexual violence reported in Indonesia this year.
According to the police, last Thursday at around 1 am, S got on an angkot minivan driven by two of the alleged perpetrators. Instead of taking her to her destination, they drove to a rented house in Kelapa Dua, Tangerang, where four of their friends were waiting.
“The victim was forced into a bathroom and raped in turns by the suspects,” said Akhmad Alexander Yuriko, head of the Crime Investigation Unit at the South Tangerang Police, as quoted by Okezone yesterday.
After they had assaulted her, the suspects then let S go. She eventually reported the incident to the police on Sunday, after which four of the suspects were soon arrested.
Two others, identified by the initials DS and TS, are still at large.
The suspects may be charged with violation of Child Protection Laws, and could face up to 15 years in prison each.
The government this year introduced chemical castration as a punishment for convicted pedophiles, with President Joko Widodo justifying the law by saying that there could be “no compromise” when it comes to tackling sex crimes. The government was spurred into introducing the the law after the horrific rape and murder of a 14-year-old in Bengkulu by a gang of men and boys earlier this year.
Correction: The word “allegedly” was added to the headline as the suspects have not yet been found guilty for rape.
