T

he Bekasi Police have detained a Bekasi Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officer after a teenage couple filed a police report against him for sexual harassment.

'€œWe arrested him on Monday night and have officially named him a suspect. He'€™s in police custody,'€ Bekasi Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Siswo said on Tuesday.

Siswo added that the alleged male and female victims, aged 17 and 14 respectively, had told the police earlier on Monday that the Satpol PP officer approached them while they were alone on Jl. I Gusti Ngurah Rai, Bekasi, West Java, at 1 a.m. on that day.

The officer allegedly scolded the couple for being alone together late at night.

He then told the couple to follow him to the Bekasi administration'€™s office complex. The officer ordered the girl to ride with him on his motorcycle, while the boy was told to follow behind on his own
motorcycle.

According to the victims'€™ testimonies, Siswo said, the suspect allegedly forced the couple to take their clothes off in the basement of a building in the complex.

The male victim obeyed but the female victim refused. Siswo added that the officer then allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him while recording it.

Both victims said the officer threatened to strip them naked outside during Satpol PP'€™s morning assembly if they did not follow his commands, Siswo said.

The officer then allowed the couple to return home.

Siswo explained that the police had arrested the suspect based on his characteristics and the license plate of his motorcycle, as described by the victims.

The suspect had confessed to the crime during police questioning, but the police wished to question him further about the case, he said.

The suspect could face a maximum 15-year prison sentence for forcing the girl to perform sexual acts under Article 82 of the 2003 Child Protection Law.

Separately, Bekasi Satpol PP head Radi Mahdi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the officer in question had worked with the agency for years and there had been no complaints about him.

Radi said that when the news emerged, the suspect was summoned and questioned at Bekasi Satpol PP headquarters, but at that time he did not admit to his alleged actions.

Radi explained the punishment imposed on the suspect would be decided after the completion of the police investigation.

Once the police inform Bekasi Satpol PP of the result of the investigation, the case will be passed to the Bekasi mayor to decide on whether the officer will be dismissed.

'€œThe suspect is still a Satpol PP officer until his punishment is decided,'€ he said.

Radi acknowledged that it was common for Satpol PP officers to abuse their authority.

'€œSometimes officers feel invincible in their uniform. Some of them have extorted money from street vendors. Others have gone to prostitutes without paying them and there are also cases of fraud,'€ he said, adding that the agency applied strict rules to prevent officers'€™ attempts to abuse their power. (fss)