T

he Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) said it supported the Jakarta Police'€™s decision to use restorative justice when dealing with a sixth grader that allegedly beat up another student so severely that the child died.

KPAI secretary-general Erlinda said law enforcers should not criminalize the underage student, identified as SY, because this would not help the suspect, the victim'€™s family or the state.

'€œAs mandated by a 2010 Constitutional Court ruling, law enforcers have to use restorative justice with underage offenders. Therefore, as SY is still underage, he will not be imprisoned but will instead take responsibility for his actions, repair the harm he has done to the victim'€™s family and undergo rehabilitation,'€ she said over the weekend.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto on Friday confirmed the police'€™s approach in this case.

'€œSY is still underage so he will not be imprisoned. Instead he will be punished using a restorative justice approach,'€ he said as quoted by tempo.co, adding that both the KPAI and the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) would supervise the process.

The 2010 Constitutional Court ruling protects child offenders under the age of 12 from criminal charges, arrest and detention. Instead, the offender will be rehabilitated through intensive sessions with a child psychologist and given the chance to channel aggression through physical activities such as sports.

The offender will remain in the custody of the parents with the supervision of the government.

'€œAlthough SY is an offender, he is too young to take responsibility for the crime he has committed. The KPAI will support him through his rehabilitation and monitor his development,'€ Erlinda continued.

SY, a student of SD 09 Makasar state elementary school in East Jakarta, admitted on Monday to assaulting Renggo Khadafi, 11, who died on May 3 due to complications allegedly caused by his injuries.

According to East Jakarta Police chief Mulyadi Kaharni, the assault occurred on April 29, one day after the younger boy accidentally ran into him at school, causing SY to drop what he was holding.

Although Renggo apologized on the spot and offered SY immediate compensation, SY felt the apology was not enough and allegedly decided to teach Renggo a lesson.

Child psychologist Seto Mulyadi, who met SY on Friday, said that according to SY, the beating had started out as two friends playing around in a classroom.

'€œSY told me that they were joking around but somehow it turned into something serious. Without any supervising teachers in sight, the joking turned fatal,'€ he said. '€œSY did not mean to cause fatal damages to Renggo, and he regrets his actions.'€ (dwa)