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Jakarta Post

Influential cleric’s son accused of rape in Jombang

The son of a prominent cleric in Jombang, East Java, has been accused of raping a female student at the Islamic boarding school where he works

Asip Hasani (The Jakarta Post)
Jombang, East Java
Sat, December 14, 2019

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Influential cleric’s son accused of rape in Jombang

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he son of a prominent cleric in Jombang, East Java, has been accused of raping a female student at the Islamic boarding school where he works.

The alleged victim, a 22-year old identified only as MNA, claimed that Moch Subchi Azal Tsani, 39, raped her in 2017 when she was studying at Shiddiqiyyah Islamic boarding school in Losari village, Ploso subdistrict.

MNA studied and lived at the boarding school for nine years. She was expelled in early 2018 after reporting the case to the school’s founder, Mochammad Muhtar, 91, a respected Jombang cleric and father of Subchi.

She later filed the case with the Jombang Police after receiving support from the Jombang women's crisis center as well as activists in her home town of Demak, Central Java.

“The suspect is an influential figure from an influential family in Jombang. We give her our entire assistance and support,” Palupi Setyorini, the secretary-general of the crisis center, said on Dec. 6.

Palupi said the alleged rape occurred when Subchi was recruiting several female students, including MNA, as potential employees of his healing treatment center. Subchi allegedly raped MNA during an internal interview process in May 2017.

It is not Subchi’s first time facing a rape allegation. Previously, another Shiddiqiyyah student reported Subchi for alleged rape, but the police did not proceed with the case after the student and Subchi reached an agreement.

“She was given some compensation and the case closed,” Palupi said.

 

“The suspect is an influential figure from an influential family in Jombang. We give her our entire assistance and support.”

 

MNA filed the police report in October. Jombang detective head Adj. Comr. Azi Pratas Guspitu named a suspect in the case on Nov. 12, identifying him only as MSA. A week later, Azi transferred to the East Java Police after serving for only 10 months in Jombang.

The new Jombang detective head, Adj. Comr. Ambuka Yudha Hardi Putra, refused to confirm the suspect had a position in the Shiddiqiyyah Islamic boarding school.

“We have never mentioned [whether the suspect is linked to the school],” Ambuka told The Jakarta Post on Dec. 7.

He added that the Jombang Police had questioned seven witnesses in the case, and declined to reveal whether the police would summon the suspect.

Subchi’s father is the supreme imam of the Shiddiqiyyah tarekat (spiritual fraternity), which claims to have 5 million followers nationwide. Some Muslim scholars say that Shiddiqiyyah is the only tarekat to have originated in Indonesia.

The Shiddiqiyyah boarding school, which sits on 40 hectares of land, is often visited by top government officials and politicians. For instance, the school welcomed then-coordinating maritime affairs minister Luhut Pandjaitan in 2017 and then-presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in early 2019.

Aside from its religious and political influence, the Muchtar family runs businesses, including a three-star hotel in Jombang city. The family owns a cigarette factory that produces cigarettes under the brand Sehat Tentrem. The brand previously claimed that the cigarette had a healing effect on those who smoked it.

Subchi, aside from managing the school, serves as the chairman of the Shiddiqiyyah Youth Organization and executive producer of Opshid Media production house.

The Post visited the school complex on Wednesday in an attempt to interview Subchi. A school representative named Ifan Nugroho said that Subchi was not available as he was accompanying his father, whose health had been deteriorating for a month.

When asked about the rape case, Ifan briefly answered: “I don’t know anything about that.”

Palupi of the Jombang women crisis center expressed hoped that the investigation would be noticed by religious figures in Jombang, known as a kota santri (city of Islamic boarding school students).

Palupi, who also serves as coordinator of the Kota Santri Alliance against Sexual Harassment, said it was the responsibility of religious figures and boarding school management teams to protect their students from sexual harassment.

“We, in the alliance, hope that the police will continue the investigation of the case properly even though it involves an influential figure and institution.”

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