T

he Depok Police named 10 suspects, nine of whom are minors, in the recent attack of the Islamic boarding school Pesantren Mashadul Al Musthatobah in Curug, Depok, West Java, whose principal cleric allegedly molested a female student.

However, police chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni said on Tuesday that they had not been able to determine the mastermind behind the attack.

“The suspects said that they were told to join the attack, but they did not know what the roots of the problem was. We’re still looking for the mastermind,” he said.

The 10 suspects were identified as AS, 15; DS, 17; EL, 17; FR, 18; IG, 17; K, 21 MF,16 MJ, 15; MN, 14; and MR, 16.

The suspects, who were mostly junior high school dropouts, could face up to six years in prison for violating Article 170 of the Criminal Code on vandalism.

“Some of them are still at school, so we put them in the juvenile detention centers at the Beji and Cimanggis police precincts,” Mulyadi said.

He added that some mass organizations, such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), had also offered to provide counseling sessions for the suspects.

During the questioning, Mulyadi said that the suspects had admitted to their involvement in the attack, including throwing rocks at the windows, damaging classrooms and burning down the school’s pavilions.

He said that the mastermind had encouraged them to join the attack, adding that the police were still investigating if any mass organizations were involved.

On Sunday, the angry mob destroyed and burned the school upon rumors that the cleric, Fauzan, 40, who had been detained since Saturday, had been released.

Fauzan was detained after the young woman’s parents reported him to the police for sexually molesting their daughter, identified as M, now 19, since 2009. Fauzan allegedly forced M into an unofficial Islamic marriage, known as nikah siri.

Fauzan remained silent when reporters bombarded him with questions at the Depok Police
headquarters.

The police arrested him for sexually abusing a minor, thus violating Article 81 of the Law on Children Rights Protection. Fauzan could face a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.

Mulyadi said that the marriage was illegal as no witnesses, especially the parents, were present when it took place. “Fauzan also told M to use contraception so she would not get pregnant,” he said.

Based on the 1974 Law on Marriage, there must be a bride and groom, witnesses, marriage officers, a dowry and ijab kabul (wedding ceremony) for a marriage to take place.

The police and members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) were still seen guarding the school on Tuesday.

Akhmad Fakhrudin, an Islamic counselor with the Religious Affairs Ministry’s representative office in the districts of Bojongsari and Sawangan, said that the school was not registered and did not have an operational permit as it never reported its activities to the authorities.

“We will always conduct regular inspections and trainings for Islamic schools that are registered in the districts,” he said.

Mulyadi said that the school only had 19 students, eight of whom were male. There have not been any activities at the school since the middle of Ramadhan, and since the incident, all activities have been moved to another school building on Jl. Haji Nawi in Gandaria, South Jakarta.