Indonesian Police Accused of Ignoring Victims
Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto & Zaky Pawas | September 01, 2010
Jakarta. A police division that deals with crimes against women and children is being criticized for its handling of a rape involving a minor.
Frisca Hutagalung, who coordinates volunteers at Sahabat Anak, a nongovernmental organization for street children, said on Tuesday that the West Jakarta Police’s Women and Child Crimes Center (PPA) had discouraged the mother of a possible rape victim from filing a complaint against the still unknown suspect.
Frisca said she had accompanied the mother, Euis Hartati, and her 8-year old daughter on Monday to file a police report at the center, which is located in West Jakarta Police headquarters. She said, however, that they were turned away by officers.
“They said the child didn’t have a birth certificate and that there was no witness to the crime,” Frisca said. “They also said that they didn’t want the family to expect too much.”
Although a physical examination revealed that the hymen of the girl was still intact, doctors found the child’s genital area was chafed and that her neck was bruised.
Frisca said the officers told them to report to the Grogol Police instead and to demand that community police officers be assigned to patrol their neighborhood. Euis and her family live in Grogol, West Jakarta.
Instead, Frisca went to the office of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
“They [KPAI] told us what to tell the police — that a case is a case when you have a victim and proof from a medical examiner,” she said.
“So we went back to the police and told them that. They finally agreed to file the case and asked for testimony from the child and her father.”
Euis Hartati told the Jakarta Globe that she was relieved that the police had finally agreed to take their complaint.
“We finally filed it. Police treated us differently [after the meeting with KPAI],” she said.
Euis and her family have temporarily moved out of their home following the incident and are staying in a house provided by Sahabat Anak, also in West Jakarta.
The Globe contacted the West Jakarta Police’s Women and Child Crimes Center, but the head of the unit declined to comment on the matter.
“That is not my concern. That is the concern of my subordinates, and the complaint center,” Adj. Comr. Slamet R said. When asked why he was not aware of the case, the officer hung up.
This is not the first time a Women and Child Crimes Center has been criticized for its handling of a criminal complaint.
Two months ago, officers at the center in South Jakarta told a victim of sexual assault not to press charges against the suspect, who had already signed a statement admitting his guilt.
Foni, 31, said she had been groped by a man on a TransJakarta bus. Officers at the PPA encouraged her not to file a complaint due to lack of evidence.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said police would need documentation, witnesses and expert testimony to pursue the case. He added that the suspect could retract his admission of guilt in court.
Officers also warned Foni that the alleged groper could sue her for defamation if she filed a police complaint.
The police’s handling of that case triggered a public outcry and led the TransJakarta management to introduce a system to separate men and women at busway shelters across the city.
In June and July, however, media reported three more cases of women being sexually assaulted on TransJakarta buses.
It was only in mid-July that police finally named a suspect, though he was only implicated in the third case.
Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), said on Tuesday that all aggrieved citizens had a right to file police complaints, and that police could not refuse them or stop them, especially when the case involved children.
“It doesn’t matter whether the case has been proven or not, it should first be filed with the police, and then the police can investigate the case,” he said.
“That a child has no birth certificate is a completely invalid reason not to accept a complaint,” he added.
Arist said the PPA was formed by the National Police specifically to handle often sensitive cases involving women and children, and that the officers at the centers should receive the necessary training for handling the victims.
“They [victims] should receive specialized treatment, and should be provided with privacy. Not sent off from one place to another,” he said.
The role of the centers has become more crucial with Komnas Anak reporting a rise in the number of cases of violence, sexual assault and incest involving children.
The commission recorded 1,826 such cases in the first five months of 2010, compared to 1,891 for all of last year. Besides street children, youngsters who are particularly prone to violence came from middle- and low-income families.
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