I

t has become the gossip of the neighborhood.

Some female tenants of the Istana Laguna boarding house in Grogol Petamburan, West Jakarta, have been drawing attention.

“They always wear sexy clothes, and some of them are seen coming back to the house at dawn,” Ani Lisnawati, 39, who sells food near the boarding house, said on Tuesday.

So when it was discovered on Friday that one of the women, Murtiyaningsih, a sex worker, was murdered, reportedly by a man who identified as her client, the neighbors already knew the rest of the story.

The 28-year-old was found dead inside her room at the Istana Laguna. Police said Agus had killed her after she had insisted that he pay Rp 500,000 (US$37.46), which Agus apparently could not afford. The alleged crime occurred after Murtiyaningsih had delivered her services to Agus at the rental property the night before her body was found.

Online prostitution has become widespread in the city, with sex workers renting rooms at apartments buildings and boarding houses to serve their clients.

In 2015, residents in Tebet, South Jakarta, were shocked when a woman, Deudeuh Avisah Rini, aka Tata Chubby, was found dead in her room.

She had been killed by her client after complaining about his body odor.

The Jakarta administration has closed the Kalijodo red light district in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, but this has not halted the practice of prostitution.

Marlina, 32, a laundry woman at the Istana Laguna, admitted that she had known for a long time that Murtiyaningsih was a prostitute and that she had sometimes met the clients she brought.

“Guests [to this boarding house] are free to come and go 24 hours a day. As long as they don’t bother their neighbors, it’s all OK,” Marlina told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Other women staying at the property also worked as prostitutes, Marlina said, adding that most of them were university students.

“Residents here never disturb [the sex workers] nor raid the house,” said Ani, who often saw them pass her food stall.

The phenomenon of prostitutes going online and operating in residential areas was the result of crackdowns on brothels by the authorities, besides the increasing use of online applications, according to University of Indonesia sociologist Ricardi S. Adnan.

Contributing to the online trend was the growing number of arrests of prostitutes in public places, such as bars and karaoke parlors, which made them afraid to offer their services in public, Ricardi said.

“Rental properties are the safest place for them, because there they are safe from thugs and can keep all the money they get from their profession,” he said.

Besides, not many people living near the rental properties knew about their presence, and even if they did, they tended to be permissive, Ricardo said.

He criticized the administration for failing to provide a solution for prostitution.

“It is also a failure of the government to monitor social media,” he said.

Grogol Petamburan district head Achmad Sajidin denied that boarding houses in his area were being used as prostitution sites, saying his staff had already checked on the Istana Laguna boarding house.

“Even though there is a case of a prostitute using the boarding house to serve clients, it is just one case. As they use online apps to attract clients, they could deliver their services anywhere, not just at their boarding house,” Achmad said after visiting the property on Tuesday afternoon.

“When I checked, I saw that there is no such thing as a prostitution site at the boarding house. It’s all clean,” he went on.

He added that his staff was coordinating efforts with the Istana Laguna manager, who had been agreed to comply with regulations, including by increasing security and 24-hour compulsory reporting for guests visiting the boarding house. (yon)