T

he Bekasi Police have confirmed that they will continue to pursue the case of a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually abused by a school teacher even though the girl'€™s parents have withdrawn their complaint.

Bekasi Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Siswo said the complaint withdrawal would not stop the investigation or court proceedings.

'€œThe process will continue, the suspect is obliged to attend court hearings and questioning, although he will not be detained during the legal process,'€ he said on Thursday.

The girl'€™s parents dropped the complaint filed with the Bekasi Police against a 32-year-old state elementary school teacher in Bekasi, for sexually abusing their daughter and asked for an out-of-court settlement, meaning that both sides had agreed to drop the legal case.

The Bekasi Child Protection Commission (KPA) said that despite the withdrawal and agreement between the victim'€™s parents and the suspect, the commission and the police had the authority to continue the investigation based on Article 82 of the 2014 Child Protection Law.

'€œThe process can'€™t be stopped that way. This is a case involving a minor. So the law on child protection gives us the authority to continue the process even though the victim'€™s parents have officially withdrawn the report,'€ Rury Arief Rianto, the KPA Bekasi legal commissioner, told the Post.

In mid-June, the teacher, who taught physical education at the elementary school in East Bekasi that the girl attended, was arrested by the Bekasi Police after they received a report on the alleged sexual abuse.

The teacher and the girl were caught by the girl'€™s friends having sex in the school bathroom in April. The friends told their parents about it. The girl eventually admitted that she had had sex four times with the teacher since last year, claiming that the sex was consensual.

KPA Bekasi head Syahroni said the teacher was married and his wife was pregnant.

KPA Bekasi regretted the decision to drop the complaint as the KPA had provided everything needed for the legal process, given counselling to the girl and a psychological examination to help her deal with the trauma.

Her mother, a housewife, said the investigation put her and her husband, who is a security guard, in debt of up to Rp 3 million as they had to spend money on costly transportation, meals and medical tests on their daughter. They also paid for meals and transportation for their daughter'€™s friends when they went to the police station for questioning as witnesses.

'€œI had to prepare at least Rp 50,000 a day to manage all the things needed for the legal process, take a motorcycle taxi and public minivan to go to the Bekasi Police,'€ she said as quoted by kompas.com.

The mother said the legal process had also stressed her daughter, who she said found it difficult to deal with the police asking questions about her case.

A similar controversy happened in 2008, when businessman Pujiono Cahyo Widianto, aka Syekh Puji, married a 12-year-old girl in a religious ceremony as his second wife in Bedono village, Semarang regency, Central Java. In 2010, he stood trial for violating the Child Protection Law but the Ungaran District Court found him innocent. On Nov. 24, 2010, the Central Java High Court sentenced him to four years'€™ imprisonment and fined him Rp 60 million.

Puji has not served the term. In January 2012, the Religious Court in Ambarawa, Central Java, granted his proposal to marry the girl, whom he said had turned 16, with his first wife'€™s consent. (foy)