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Dozens women, some underage girls fall victim to sex offender in NTB
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Illustration of a depressed woman. (Shutterstock/Doidam 10)
T
he West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Police have revealed that at least 15 women, including underage girls, have fallen victim to alleged sexual harassment over the past few months by a 22-year-old man identified by his initials IWAS.
The suspect, who is a disabled person born without hands, reportedly manipulated his victims by telling his sad stories of always being looked down upon by others, prompting the victims to cater to his requests including to take him to “a house of a friend”, which appeared to be a budget hotel where the victims were eventually harassed.
His modus operandi was to approach a woman or a girl who seemed to be in a vulnerable mental state as she sat alone in a park.
“They were eventually engaged in a deep conversation,” explained the NTB Police director of the general crime unit Sr. Comr. Syarif Hidayat earlier this month.
In some cases, IWAS managed to manipulate and lure the women into disclosing their secrets and sensitive information, which he later used to threaten the victims.
Since the case was first reported in October, more and more women have spoken up about the alleged sexual harassment by the university student.
The suspect was charged under Article 6 of Law No. 12/2022 on crimes of sexual violence with a maximum punishment of 12 years in jail.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women said the case shed light on the importance of public education regarding sexual violence’s modus operandi, “which has become much more complex”.
