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Activists call for govt action following gang rape case
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The chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection ( Komnas PA ), Arist Merdeka Sirait, shows the debris of his office in Jakarta on Sunday. The Komnas PA office building, including a data storage room, was destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of valuable information regarding 12,000 child abuse cases. (The Jakarta Post/DON)
A
n Indonesian child protection activist has called on the government to give extra attention to the recent sexual abuse and murder of a teenage student in a case involving 14 boys.
“It is an extraordinary crime. The state must show presence,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, the chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday.
In early April, the 14 teenage boys raped and killed a junior high school girl in a remote area of Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, prompting strong public criticism via social media over the absence of a government response.
The girl was on her way home, wearing her school uniform, on April 2 before she was taken by one of the perpetrators, whom she knew personally, and dragged into the forest, where she was raped and then murdered.
The bruised body of the 14-year old girl was found in the remote area, tied up and naked, three days after her death.
The government should identify the accurate cause of the incident to tackle the social problem by its root instead of letting the police investigate the case as a purely criminal incident, Arist said.
“This is a national issue. The cure must address the root of this social disease,” he asserted.
Twenty NGOs held a joint press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday, calling on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to fast-track a draft bill on sexual violence at the House of Representatives.
The draft bill stipulates a maximum prison sentence of 15 years for sex crime offenses and seeks better protection for rape victims.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 321,752 cases of violence against women in 2014, up from 293,220 cases in the previous year.
Komnas Perempuan drafted the sexual violence bill back in 2014, but it was only included on the national legislative priority list this year. (vps/dan)
