Two teenage girls from the Al Maaâuun Foundation orphanage on Jl
wo teenage girls from the Al Maa'uun Foundation orphanage on Jl. Lasoso in West Palu, reported its owner, Mohammad Nur Astan, to police on Saturday for allegedly raping them.
One of the girls said Nur Astan asked her to babysit his child in his bedroom. 'He was also in the bedroom at that time. When the child fell asleep, I fell asleep too. That was the last thing I remember. When I woke up, I found myself lying on his bed and I felt pain [in my genitalia],' she said at Palu Police headquarters.
Another girl reported a similar story, alleging that Nur Astan asked her to take his clothes into his bedroom. She fell unconscious and later found herself lying in his bed, feeling pain in her genitalia.
Both alleged to have been raped repeatedly over the past four months and that they were not the only victims from the orphanage.
According to the girls, many others had also been targeted and ran away or moved to another orphanage rather than file a report.
Both said that while they were initially afraid to go to the police because the perpetrator had threatened them, they filed reports after receiving assistance from the Indonesian Ombudsman's Central Sulawesi office and a local NGO.
'We have their reports [from the hospital], and the results show both girls are rape victims,' said Sofyan Farid Lembah, chairman of the local Ombudsman's office, when accompanying the girls to the police.
He said his organization would monitor the case until the alleged perpetrator was arrested.
Nur Astan was unavailable for comment. An orphanage employee said that he was in Surabaya, East Java on business.
The orphanage is poorly maintained and barely has proper sanitation. It lacks a clean water supply, leading orphans to ask neighbors when they want to shower or use the toilet.
One neighbor said the orphanage had been in poor condition for almost a year. 'The children usually come to my house to take a bath. They also come here to use our toilet,' said Yunita, a local resident.
Yunita said she was unaware of any rapes, adding that no children had spoken of the allegations, although she noted that children were often forced to sell cakes on the street until late at night.
Seven boys reportedly currently live in the orphanage.
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