On Oct. 27, the student visited her lecturer in his office for a thesis consultation. The two were alone and, according to the student’s account, the lecturer peppered her with personal questions that had nothing to do with the thesis. The student said she grew uneasy after he allegedly said, "I love you."

As she went to leave the room, the lecturer allegedly put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek and forehead. The student said she kept her head down and that the lecturer then tried to kiss her lips, saying, “Where are the lips?”

“I was very petrified, but I managed to shove him away,” she said in a video published on the Instagram account of the university’s International Relations Student Association. “I left [his] office and rushed away from the campus in a state of shock.”

She said she tried reaching out to the department secretary to report the incident and asked for her thesis supervisor to be changed. But the secretary and the head of the department allegedly pressured her “not to tell anyone about the incident”.

“They laughed in my face about it,” she said. “There was no protection, no empathy for what I had gone through. They tried to protect [the lecturer] instead, without caring about what had happened.”

Read also: 'Big step’: Students, lecturers laud decree to fight sexual violence on campuses

Noval Setiawan, a lawyer from the Pekanbaru Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pekanbaru) representing the student, said she was being accompanied by a psychologist.

"The victim is still not stable, still terrified," he said.

The Riau University Student Executive Body (BEM) and the International Relations Student Association reported the case to the rector but said they had not received any assurance. The student then published her account of the incident on the student association’s Instagram page.

The lecturer has denied the allegations. He said he would sue the student for Rp 10 billion (US$701,151) for defamation.

"I did not do what was alleged," he said, accompanied by his wife, at a press conference last Friday. "My wife and family are disturbed because of this."

He filed a defamation lawsuit against the student a day after she, with the assistance of LBH Pekanbaru, filed a sexual harassment complaint with the police on Nov. 5.

This is the first sexual harassment incident to garner widespread public attention in the country since Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim issued a ministerial regulation stipulating that higher educational institutions develop clear mechanisms, including a special task force, to address allegations of sexual harassment or violence.

Dozens of sexual harassment cases have been reported on university campuses over the past five years, with many more believed to go unreported.

Read also: ‘Take all the time in the world to heal’: Agni’s message for victims of sexual assault

After the incident was made public, the Riau University rectorate formed a team to investigate the case and work in accordance with the ministerial regulation, rector Aras Mulyadi said.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has welcomed the move and has encouraged the university to include students and external stakeholders on the team, as well as to ensure that at least half of the team are women.

“It is important to consider the unequal power relations so that efforts to prevent and handle sexual violence and help the victims recover can be carried out comprehensively and systemically,” said Dewi Kanti of Komnas Perempuan.

The student’s lawyer, Noval, noted that the case could serve as a turning point for the implementation of the new regulation.

"This is also a form of support for the police, who have had difficulty finding facts, evidence and leads in cases of sexual harassment on campuses," he added.

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