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angerang District Court judges sentenced Muhamad “Oleng” Sholeh to death on Tuesday for masterminding the rape and murder of a female student at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Ciputat, South Tangerang.

The panel of judges also sentenced five accomplices in the crime to 20 years in jail each.

“Based on the facts revealed before the court, the main defendant is proven guilty of having masterminded the rape and premeditated murder of Izzun Nahdiyah by involving his five friends in the crime,” presiding judge Machri Hendra said as he read out the verdict.

The judges said that the defendants’ deed was inhuman. The fact that the defendants had shown no remorse for their crimes and gave misleading testimony during their trials had thwarted the possibility of mitigating the punishment, Machri said.

The prosecutors had earlier proposed capital punishment for Oleng and life sentences for Endang, Jasrip, Chandra, Nurip and Sukija.

Prosecutor Hartono had charged the defendants with violating Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder and Article 285 on violent rape, which carry maximum sentences of the death penalty and life in prison.

Defendant Oleng, who in a previous session ran amok and stepped on the Koran before the court after prosecutors read out the demands, was speechless after the judges read out the verdict.

Oleng said after the trial that he would appeal with a higher court.

“I did not rape [her]. I just killed [her]. They are not seeking justice, just seeking a way to punish me. I had repeatedly requested to prove my innocence but it was never granted,” he said.

Defense lawyer Ferdinand Montororing said that he regretted the court’s verdict because the panel of judges only referred to the police dossiers in making their decision, rather than the facts that were revealed during the trial. Oleng was unemployed, but reportedly had an active social life, attending community gatherings and participating in sports, he said.

According to the victim’s family, Oleng offered to help fix Izzun’s laptop and asked her for money. On April 6, Izzun came to Oleng’s place to pick up the laptop, which he sold. Oleng told the court that he was annoyed by Izzun’s persistence in getting her laptop back, so he forced her to swallow several painkiller tablets with a soft drink to render her unconscious.

The police revealed that Oleng and his friends then took turns raping Izzun before taking her to Legok, Tangerang, where they slit her throat and dumped her body on Jl. Pemda DKI.