T

he Medan Police in North Sumatra are facing difficulties tracking the missing domestic maids of an allegedly abusive manpower placement agency and plan to transfer the case to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

The police'€™s detective and crime unit chief, Comr. Wahyu Istanto Bram, said they would hand over the case dossiers in the near future and that they were still collecting data on the missing maids.

'€œSo far, we have collected data on three missing maids, while according to reports over 10 maids remain missing,'€ Wahyu told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said the three missing maids whose data had been collected hailed from West Java, East Java and Jakarta.

One of the three maids identified as Yanti of West Java was found dead while the whereabouts of the other two remained unknown, Wahyu said.

He hoped Komnas HAM would follow up on the case to find supporting evidence that the Anwar family, the owner of the manpower placement agency, was behind the disappearance of the maids.

Anwar family member Syamsul Anwar has been named a suspect in the case.

The Medan administration believes the agency was supported by the police as the agency did not have a permit and had been blacklisted.

Komnas HAM commissioner Nurcholis said the rights body was ready to cooperate with the police to help solve the missing-maid case. Nurcholis said he had discussed the issue with the Medan Police.

'€œWe discussed the matter during the commission'€™s visit to Medan recently,'€ Nurcholis told the Post.

At least 10 maids were reported missing, while two were found dead.

The two dead maids were identified as Hermin alias Cici and Yanti. Hermin'€™s body was dumped in Karo regency while that of Cici'€™s was disposed in Labuhan Deli, near Belawan Port, Medan.

The police said the missing maids could have been tortured to death and that their bodies may have been mutilated by the suspected family at their house on Jl. Beo in Medan, North Sumatra.

The North Sumatra Police'€™s forensic and disaster victim identification (DVI) teams found 23 bone fragments measuring 3-8 centimeters each suspected to be that of the missing maids at the suspect'€™s house last month.

Wahyu said the police were waiting for the results of the DVI team'€™s examination of the bones to strengthen the evidence to be mentioned in the case dossiers.

 Seven people have been named suspects in the case, two of whom have been tried and sentenced.
Syamsul'€™s employee, M. Hanafi Bahri, was sentenced to five years in prison, while Syamsul'€™s son, M. Thoriq, was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

The prosecutor'€™s office has appealed the sentences as they were more lenient than demanded.