T

he East Jakarta Police said they were still questioning two people suspected of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl in East Jakarta, who reportedly died from severe vaginal and rectal injuries.

The police said they had narrowed down their list of witnesses from 18 people to three as of Saturday.

“There are three witnesses who are still being questioned, two of who are the alleged perpetrators,” chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni told reporters on Saturday.

Mulyadi was reluctant to name the three witnesses, but said that all of them were closely linked to the victim.

The police previously said that they had found it difficult to investigate the case due to the lack of evidence and information on the identity of the perpetrator.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) chair Arist Merdeka Sirait said on Sunday that the commission had prepared counseling sessions for the victim’s family if the perpetrators of the abuse were closely linked to the victim, including if they were family members.

He said maintaining the family’s mental condition was important.

“The victim’s mother kept on asking why the police were questioning one of her sons over and over again,” Arist told The Jakarta Post. “We are aiming to keep the family strong, whatever the result of the investigation is.”

The girl, RI, died at Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta last week, after having been in a coma for days due to suffering what appeared to be repeated sexual assaults.

RI was taken to a community health center in Bekasi on Nov. 27 and was diagnosed with a lymph node problem for a pain in her armpit.

She continued to complain of other pains and different doctors diagnosed her with other illnesses, such as typhoid fever and a stomach ulcer, until she was admitted to Persahabatan Hospital on Dec. 29.

The doctors at Persahabatan Hospital discovered severe injuries to the girl’s vagina and rectum, allegedly caused by “a forcefully inserted blunt object”.

She remained in a critical condition thereafter and finally passed away on Jan. 6 at 6 a.m, allegedly due to brain inflammation. It remains unclear whether the inflammation was caused by her injuries.

In 2012, Komnas PA recorded 2,637 cases of violence against children in Greater Jakarta, 1,075 of which were sexual abuse cases.

Arist said that most perpetrators of sexual abuse were the men closest to the victim, which resulted in the victim being reluctant to tell the truth, as most of them were ashamed or afraid. (nad)