T

he family of a student of the state-run Indonesian Merchant Marine Academy (STIP) in Marunda, Cilincing, North Jakarta, who was allegedly beaten to death by his schoolmates, is planning to sue the academy.

'€œThe family has decided to sue the academy. The academy should be held responsible for the incident,'€ the victim'€™s aunt, Nina, said at the family'€™s residence on Jl. Cibadak in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sunday.

Nina revealed that several members of the family would go to Jakarta on Monday to meet other family members to discuss the lawsuit.

She said the lawsuit aimed to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future at the academy.

Besides planning to sue the academy, Nina said the family hoped the police would take stern action against the perpetrators, who had tortured the victim to death.

 Dimas Dikita Handoko, 19, died on Friday night after reportedly being beaten by his seniors at the academy. He suffered severe bruises to his body. Dimas was buried at a public cemetery on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Dimas'€™ mother, Rukita Hanayanti, 43, revealed that she had called Dimas a few hours before he died.

'€œI called him at about 2 p.m. He said he would meet his seniors at midnight. I texted him, but he did not reply,'€ Rukita, who happened to be in Jakarta to meet Dimas, said.

Rukita said that she wanted to make a surprise visit to Dimas as she had not seen her son since he started his studies at the academy 18 months ago.

'€œLater, police informed me about the incident,'€ Rukita said, while expressing the hope that such an incident would never happen again.

Dimas is not the first STIP student to have died at the hands of senior students.

STIP first-grade student Agung Bastian Gultom, was reportedly beaten to death by his seniors after joining an initiation program on May 12, 2008.

Three senior students were dismissed from the academy for allegedly beating Agung, while seven others were suspended for torturing other students in the initiation program.

Last year, David Richar Djumaati, 18, a student at the privately run Djadajat Maritime Academy, also in Marunda, North Jakarta, died at the hands of his seniors after joining a training program prior to the commencement of classes.

Manado, North-Sulawesi-born David suffered bruising all over his body and died on March 8, 2013, from a brain hemorrhage. Six students were questioned over David'€™s death.

The highest number of cases of deaths as a result of bullying committed by senior students was at the Institute of Public Administration (STPDN) in Bandung, West Java.

Seven STPDN students were prosecuted for killing their junior, Wahyu Hidayat, in September last year. Three years earlier, another STPDN student, Erie Rakhman, was also beaten to death by her seniors.

The government temporarily closed the institution and later relocated it to Jakarta.

Education observers have criticized military-style training programs applied in schools that often cause death or injury to students rather than developing the intended discipline.