Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Sumedang
The violence-plagued Institute of Public Administration (IPDN) dismissed 12 more students Wednesday for disciplinary offenses committed over the last three months, including two women who had abortions.
This is the third time the IPDN, a national training college for civil servants in West Java, has dismissed students since sophomore Cliff Muntu was beaten to death by older students in early April.
Cliff's death once again highlighted the institute's culture of violence, and resulted in renewed calls for an overhaul of the IPDN's curriculum.
Since April a total of 24 students, including seven students who have been named suspects in Cliff's death, have been thrown out of the institute for a variety of offenses, ranging from drugs to the possession of pornography.
A number of other students have received disciplinary sanctions.
Burhanuddin Dalil, who heads the IPDN's disciplinary commission, said of the 12 students dismissed Wednesday two were women who were found to have had abortions.
The remaining students lost their places at the school for having been away from campus without permission for more than seven days.
""We will begin giving female students pregnancy tests every two to three months. If they are found to be pregnant, we'll throw them out,"" Dalil told reporters after a ceremony at the institute's campus in Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java.
Thousands of students ignored steady rain to attend the ceremony and watch their fellow students be expelled.
The violations date back to the middle of 2006, when the institute was still led by former rector I Nyoman Sumaryadi.
Nyoman is currently being investigated by police for allegedly attempting to cover up Cliff's death.
Acting rector Johanis Kaloh said these most recent dismissals were part of sweeping new disciplinary measures being implemented by the institute.
He said a decision on the fate of three students apprehended by police for drug use would be made next week, while another student allegedly guilty of assault might only receive disciplinary sanction.
A source at the institute who declined to be named said one of the two women expelled for having an abortion was found to have hidden the fetus under her bed at her boardinghouse.
The fetus, according to this source, was discovered after several female students were ""possessed"", forcing a shaman to be called in.
""It's strange. After a shaman was called in, it was discovered there was a fetus under the bed,"" the source said.
In July 2000, an institute student from Jakarta was found dead in Al Ikhlas Mosque in Padalarang, West Bandung, after reportedly obtaining an abortion from a midwife.
A presidential fact-finding team has wrapped up its audit of the institute and is scheduled to submit its recommendations to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono next week.
