Three high school students suspects in bullying case
Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 05/20/2010 2:44 PM
The Jakarta Police named Thursday three senior students from state high school SMA 70 in South Jakarta suspects in a bullying case involving a freshman.
City police’s women and children protection unit head Comr. Murnila said her investigators had planned to question the three students this morning but delayed the interviews following requests from their families.
“The parents of one suspect, for example, said they and their daughter were still busy looking for universities before her official [high school] graduation," Murnila said.
Last month, Novia Yuma Shanti, a freshman in SMA 70 state high school, told police that three of her seniors, identified by initials EJR, DAT and AAL, had beaten her up in the school canteen.
Novia said the three had punched her in the head, kicked her in the stomach and squeezed her arms, causing bruising. She said the three had beaten her because she had not been wearing an undershirt.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said earlier the police’s initial investigations had confirmed the bruises on the victim’s stomach.
Bullying has become a major issue in state schools despite a recent dip in reports. In 2008, the National Commission for Child Protection received 86 reports of bullying in schools, down from 555 reports in 2007.
