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Police arrest alleged child rapist in Jayapura
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Activists stage a peaceful rally to call for an end to child abuse. (Tempo/-)
T
he Jayapura Police’s criminal investigation unit in Papua has apprehended a 28-year-old man identified as YK for allegedly raping a 7-year-old girl in the latest case of sexual violence against children.
YK was arrested as he was about to flee the city on the passenger ship KM Sinabung through Jayapura Port on Wednesday, according to Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal.
“We identified the perpetrator two days after the rape. We followed him and arrested him at the port. To fool officers, he pretended to be a port laborer carrying goods onto the ship,” he said on Wednesday.
The alleged rape took place on Saturday, in a wooded area close to a residential complex.
Witnesses said they saw the girl walking unsteadily away from the woods before collapsing onto the terrace of a house. Residents immediately rushed her to the hospital and informed her parents.
According to the victim, she had been playing with her friends when YK allegedly approached her and offered to buy her ice cream.
“Another child was offered ice cream but refused. The victim, however, accepted the offer and was then taken to the woods,” Kamal said.
YK told police that he had also raped a child on the island of Biak in 2015, and once again in June 2017 in Nabire regency. Both are located in Papua.
YK could be charged under the country’s Child Protection Law and face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The Jayapura Police recorded 55 cases of sexual abuse against children between January and September this year. While most went through the legal process, some were settled outside of court.
