Minors named suspects in burning of school owned by arrested cleric

The Depok Police revealed on Tuesday that it had named 10 persons, several of whom are minors, as suspects in the recent burning of an Islamic boarding school in the area, which is owned by a cleric who is alleged to have sexually abused a female student.

“We are very concerned because many of the suspects are still below 17 years old,” Depok Police chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni said.

The ten suspects were identified only as EL, 17; MR, 16; DS, 17; AS, 15; MJ, 15; MN, 14; IG, 17; FR, 18; MF,16 and K, 21.

The police chief said that the suspects were provoked into burning the Islamic boarding school.

“They did not know the core of the problem. They only followed a mob, which asked them to join in destroying the school,” Mulyadi said, as reported bytribunnews.com.

Islamic boarding school Masyhadul As Musthatobah Curug in Depok, West Java was burned down by an angry mob after they heard a rumor that the school’s principal, Fauzan, 40, had been released from detention.

Fauzan was detained on Saturday by the Depok Police after one of his student’s parents reported that he had sexually harassed their 19 year old daughter, identified only as M. Since 2009 the young woman had allegedly been forced to engage in an unofficial Islamic marriage, locally known as nikah siri.(riz)