A Moslem cleric in Lebak, Banten, has been detained since Wednesday at the local police office for allegedly pouring acid onto the hands of four children.
Warung Gunung Police chief Adj. Comr. Mayusri said the incident had occurred on Dec. 30 after the four children, Heri, 15, Bahrul, 18, Herman, 15, and Sholeh, 19, had spent a night together with the cleric’s son, Hasan, 17, at Herman’s house in Cibualebak.
“When they slept, Hasan kept his cellular phone in his pocket while the others put their cell phones on the bed,” Mayusri said as quoted by poskota.co.id.
“When Hasan woke up, he found his cell phone was missing and suspected that the four boys had stolen it.”
Hasan went home and reported the incident to his father, Deden Danuri, a cleric and chairman of the local Islamic boarding school.
Deden then summoned the four children to his house for interrogation.
During the questioning, Dadan left the boys for a while and came back with a jerrycan containing 1 liter of acid.
Deden told the four children to put out their hands and asked his assistant to pour the acid onto the children’s hands.
“He said if we did not steal the cell phones, nothing would happen,” Soleh, one of the victims, told tempointeraktif.com on Thursday.
“In the beginning it was cold but then we felt our hands were burning.”
Around five minutes later, Deden tried to wash their hands with water and oil, but Soleh said it did not help.
Before dusk, the children went home and reported what Deden had done to them to their parents.
The children were then taken to a nearby community health center. However, on seeing the severity of their wounds, the center recommended they go to hospital in Depok that could provide them with more advanced treatment.
The parents of the four children, together with local residents, then reported Deden to the police, which then arrested the cleric on Wednesday.
According to some residents, Deden showed no remorse.
“He even said my injury was not serious, and that it would recover within two days,” said Herman, one of the victims.
Mayusri said the police would charge Deden with Article 351 of the Criminal Code for aggravated assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment.
