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Jambi villagers welcome banished, jailed rape victim to return after uproar
What had happened is viewed as a great disgrace in the village’s society, which holds strongly to traditional Malay and Islamic values. However, they are now becoming more forgiving toward the rape victim.
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The residents of Pulau village in Jambi were recently shocked by an incest rape case, and their harsh response has sparked nationwide and even global outrage. (JP/Jon Afrizal)
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t takes more than three hours to reach Pulau village from the city of Jambi, the capital of Jambi province. After passing through some difficult and damaged roads, the journey is continued with a 15-minute motorboat ride across the Batanghari River.
The residents of this quiet village, which is surrounded by palm oil plantations where its residents work for a living, were recently shocked by an incest rape case, and their harsh response has sparked nationwide and even global outrage.
A pungent smell in a plantation
The case unfolded a few months ago, when a palm oil plantation owner noticed a pungent smell and later discovered the body of a baby boy. He reported his finding to the police and within a few days a 15-year-old girl was arrested on suspicions of aborting the child.
A day later, the girl’s brother, 18, was arrested in connection with the case. The mother, 38, who was also later arrested for her suspected role in the abortion, claimed that she did not know who the father of the unwanted child was. She only knew that her daughter’s stomach was getting bigger.
She reportedly gave her daughter a traditional potion, and then massaged her stomach until the fetus was aborted. The body was buried at a local palm oil plantation, wrapped in a white veil.
During police questioning, the mother finally learned what had taken place in her house while she was away: her son had repeatedly raped his own sister and was the father of the unwanted child.
