A woman, identified as 25-year-old FI from Indonesia’s Batam Island, was left in tears after claiming that local police ignored her when she tried to report her rape to them.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, FI said she suspects her alleged rapist, who she identified as YP, spiked her drink with sedatives and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.
“Earlier I tried to file a police report. But I couldn’t because I’m no longer underage,” FI said at the Barelang Police sub-precinct, as quoted by Tribun.
FI said the incident occurred around two weeks earlier, when she visited YP’s kost (room in a boarding house). According to FI, YP then slipped a sedative in her drink and had his way with her afterwards.
Not only that, YP also allegedly took nude photos of FI while she was still unconscious. He then threatened to spread the photos online if FI told anyone about the alleged rape.
But two weeks later, FI made up her mind to report YP to the police regardless of the risk.
“I don’t know what else to do. I’m stressed now. I also found out that he has a wife back in his village. I don’t want to be with him anymore. It’s better that he be jailed,” she said.
FI added that YP has vacated his kost and that his current whereabouts are unknown.
According to a follow up story by Tribun, the local police acknowledged that FI is not underage, but says that wasn’t the reason why they refused an investigation into her claims.
“From the preliminary investigation, it turned out that there was not enough evidence. There’s no crime committed in this case,” said Commissioner Agung Gima Sunarya, head of Barelang Police’s Crime Investigations Unit, as quoted by Tribun yesterday.
As for the nude photos allegation, Agung said there’s also no evidence that they have been posted online, but pledged to charge YP under Indonesia’s anti-pornography law and the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE) should they be spread online.
The police’s reaction to FI’s report may be attributable to Indonesia’s current laws, which narrowly defines sexual violence and do little to prevent it. The police may well have taken FI’s case more seriously had the Elimination of Sexual Violence Bill, which broadens the definition of sexual violence and acts to give victims greater access to justice, had already been passed into law. Sadly, the bill has yet to be discussed in Parliament ever since it was entered into the National Legislative Program last year.
