Sum Kuni's Rape Story Filmed As A Village Virgin, Changed The Title 3 Times And Banned From Showing In Jogja

Village Virgin Film (Photo: YT Sinema Nostalgia)

JAKARTA - The police's neglect of sexual crimes that befell a woman selling eggs named Sumaridjen or Sum Kuning in 1970 set a bad precedent for police performance throughout the ages. This case resurfaced after the police stopped investigating the father who raped his three children. Sum Kuning is considered to have a similar story.

Sum Kuning brings a sense of aches and pains. She was gang-raped after being drugged and kidnapped. After that he had to be hospitalized for four days.

The Yogyakarta Police did not help, but instead played the drama "The thief shouts the thief." Sum as a victim was not only placed in the prison chair but began to be led as a suspect.

Sum is accused of spreading fake news. After the hospital Sum was arrested. Its range of motion is limited. Even the police threaten Sum to be electrocuted if he doesn't admit another version of the story.

Sum is cornered as a “burglar screaming thief.” He was also accused of being a sympathizer of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

The public is aware that the heinous accusation is only meant to save the rapists who are said to be big boys in Yogyakarta. The National Police Chief Hoegeng Imam Santoso was furious. But Suharto was the opposite.

Ten years after that incident, the events of Sum Kuning were adapted into the film Perawan Desa. The film is a "reconstruction" of the real incident of Sum Kuning's rape, although its main intention is to convey the problems of justice and courts in Indonesia which are not received by the small people.

In this film, the main character, Sumirah, is raped by four thugs. During the police investigation, the incident was reversed. Because of coercion, Sum admitted seeking popularity. In court little by little the real facts are revealed. A best court film ever made, thanks to the pithy and lively dialogue.

Quoted from Filmindonsia, it was originally titled Ballad Sum Kuning. Due to protests from several parties in Yogya, where the case took place, the title was changed to Balada Sumirah, and finally to Virgin Village. In the production license entitled "Balada Sumirah."

The rape case itself was horrendous, because of the investigative report of the Pioneer journalist, Slamet Djabarudi, who challenged the official police explanations. Sum Kuning was later released from custody, and the rapists were tried. The film was also banned from circulating in Yogya where the Sum Kuning case took place.