T

he South Jakarta Police, in cooperation with the West Java Police, is carrying out further investigations into the alleged physical assault of several students from state senior high school SMAN 3 Jakarta during the school'€™s recent mountain climbing trips to the Tangkuban Perahu area of West Java.

The probe was conducted after the police received reports of physical assault from other alleged victims undergoing medical treatment in Jakarta and Bandung. Previously, the police also received a report of physical abuse from the family of Arfiand Caesar Al Irhami, a student who died last Friday after undergoing intensive medical treatment at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) Hospital in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

The police previously stated that they found Arfiand'€™s death to be the result of unnatural causes, and said he was likely assaulted prior to his death.

According to Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, the police visited the site of the outdoor activity to better understand the case.

'€œThe South Jakarta Police departed for Tangkuban Perahu on Thursday morning. Several witnesses, including students and teachers, also joined the trip to help give explanations about what occured,'€ he said.

The police have so far questioned 30 witnesses, including a number of students and teachers who participated in the outing, Arfiand'€™s parents, as well as the school'€™s principal and vice principal.

Moreover, Rikwanto confirmed that three students were undergoing intensive medical treatment to address major injuries caused by blunt objects to their bodies.

'€œThey reported to the police that they were beaten. These reports will be used to our investigation,'€ Rikwanto said.

He said that the three were being treated separately in Jakarta Hospital in South Jakarta, Tria Dipa Hospital in South Jakarta and Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java.

Meanwhile, the parents of one of the three students have filed a report with the West Java Police regarding allegations of physical abuse, he said.

'€œThe victim is 16-year-old Fandian, who was Arfiand'€™s friend. He is currently being treated at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung,'€ Rikwanto said.

Separately, Indonesian Child Commission Protection (KPAI) secretary general Erlinda said that Fandian was currently in a coma.

'€œFandian'€™s hand was bitten by a rattlesnake while climbing Mount Tangkuban Perahu. However, his seniors forced him to keep climbing,'€ Erlinda told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Therefore, she explained, Fandian'€™s condition became worse.

'€œHe was tortured by being forced to keep going when he was clearly unfit to do so. His hand might even have to be amputated because of the snakebite,'€ Erlinda said.

The outing, which was led by two teachers, was conducted from June 12-20. Ten students from the 10th grade and 15 students from the 11th grade took part in the activity. One alumnus from the class of 1986 and three alumni from 1988 also took part.

Activities during the outing included mountain climbing, biking and trekking.

The parents of one of Arfiand'€™s friends, who came to the mountain to pick up their own unwell son, also collected Arfiand and took him to the MMC Hospital, where he later passed away.

Commenting on the incident, acting governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama called on the school to expel students proven guilty of assaulting the victims.

'€œWe have to punish them, so they will not repeat their mistakes again. We do not want to spend our city budget on educating potential criminals,'€ he said, adding that the perpetrators should enroll in private schools instead.

Ahok said the Education Agency should also investigate whether the school '€œwas involved'€ in the incident.

'€œWe need to see whether the teachers knew that their students were assaulted,'€ he said, adding that they might have been afraid to speak out as the students could be the children of officials or important public figures.

Ahok, however, said he was unsure whether the teachers could have failed to notice the alleged physical assaults as they interacted with the students on a daily basis. '€œEven I can identify a culprit just by looking in their eyes,'€ he said. (dwa)