vocational school teacher in Purwokerto, Banyumas, Central Java, is facing child abuse charges after a video of him slapping nine of his students went viral online.
In the video, Lukman Septiadi, 27, is shown stroking a student’s cheek before slapping him.
Banyumas Police have named Lukman a suspect in the case, charging him with child abuse as stipulated under Article 80 of the 2002 Child Protection law. The article carries a maximum punishment of 3.5 years in prison.
The students reportedly suffered injuries to their jaw and complained to have experienced perpetual headaches.
“Two of the victims have been sent to the hospital and are receiving treatment,” Banyumas Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Yudhantara Salamun said as quoted by kompas.com.
The police questioned Lukman on Thursday night, hours after journalists and angry parents arrived at his school.
Before going to the Banyumas Police office, Lukman uploaded a video of him justifying his actions in the presence of the students he assaulted.
“Yes, it was me. I hit them, and all the victims are here,” he said, asking the person recording the video to show the face of each of the victims.
“I know. I understand. I did this with a purpose. I didn’t do it [for nothing]. I didn’t do it without a purpose,” he said in the video.
In his statement to the police, Lukman claimed that he hit the nine students because they were out of line and frequently skipped school. (ahw)
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