Memories Of The Sum Kuning Case: Difficulty Revealing The Rape Of An Egg Seller Girl

Sumaridjem or Sum Kuning (center), a woman who was raped and criminalized in the 1970s era. (Special)

JAKARTA - The rape case of the Sumaridjem egg seller alias Sum Kuning tarnished the face of Indonesian law enforcement in the 1970s. The government is considered to have covered up a case that is said to involve the son of a country celebrity.

The victim is accused of being a PKI. The trial was engineered. Others are deliberately used as sacrifices. Dissatisfaction is echoing everywhere. The issuance of the book on Sum Kuning was also asked to be a means of seeking justice. Instead of being published, the book is actually included in the list of banned books of the New Order (Orba) government.

The struggle to make a living is never easy. Sumaridjem has felt it. The woman from Godean brings 200 chicken eggs daily to be brought to her customers in Yogyakarta.

Sum's customers at that time were scattered in Kota Baru, Bumijo, Suryobratan, Ngasem, Patuk, Tegal Mulyo and other villages. The large number of villages that must be visited put Sum at risk of missing the bus. Something that is feared really happened.

Sum missed the bus on September 21, 1960. In fact, missing the bus was the beginning of disaster. Sum chose to walk through the outskirts of Yogyakarta which was getting dark. Malang could not be denied. Sum was actually held captive by four people using cars.

Three people with long hair, one with short hair. He was then raped in turn. He suffered pain in the groin area. The long feet and cloth he was wearing were covered in blood.

This action became increasingly disseminated by rapists taking Rp4,650 from selling eggs. In fact, the money should have been used by Sum for capital and supporting his family. The heinous act was closed with Sum dumped on the side of the Wates-Purworejo highway, precisely in the Palemgurih area, Gamping, Sleman, about 5 km west of Yogyakarta City.

The only thing on Sum's mind is to hurry to Yogyakarta. He then used the remaining Rp100 to ride the rickshaw to his customer's house in Bumijo, Mrs. Sulardi. Then he was kept in the hospital.

The news of Sum Kuning's rape became hot news. This is because such heinous acts are considered new. Security forces were moved to investigate the case of Sum Kuning. The search actually resulted in criticism. Instead of the police quickly tracing the perpetrators, the victim of the rape 'Sum Kuning' justru was considered to be spreading false news.

He was also arrested. He was accused of being a member of Gerwani, a female organization that is considered affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The news had received attention from the National Police Chief, Hoegeng Imam Santoso.

Hoegeng wants the case to be as clear as possible. However, the Sum Kuning case actually received more attention. The police are involved because of a lot of government interference. Allegations of the country's son who was involved also surfaced.

Konon, this rape was carried out by a high-ranking child in Yogyakarta. Ironically, the rape victim himself was arrested because he was accused of giving false reports. This case has attracted public attention even more because the trial was carried out behind closed doors. Even journalists who wrote the news of this incident had to deal with the military. Then this incident went wide, until the victim of this rape was accused of being a member of Gerwani, a female organization that is considered affiliated with the PKI.

"Then a meatball seller was also presented who was suspected of being the perpetrator of the rape, which he of course denied in court. Then, there were also ten youths who were told to claim to be rapists, also denied raping, even vowed to death if they raped him," said Yudi Latif in the book Mata Air Ketadanan: Pancasila In Actions (2014).

The search for justice for Sum Kuning is not easy. The trial was conducted behind closed doors. Various versions of the perpetrators began to be presented, from law enforcement, to the public. The version that received public attention was that the perpetrators came from the son of a country celebrity.

However, the law reveals the opposite. Those who become suspects are unreasonable. Take the example of the perpetrator who should be four people, become one person. Meatball seller too. This condition makes no sense because people who own cars in the 1970s were only limited groups rich people and very rich people.

The desire for Sum Kuning to get justice emerged. Some people who care 'including journalists' are moved to print a book. Sum Kuning, the title. The book, which was predicted to contain a bright spot in the Sum Kuning case, was again printed with the intention of being widely distributed in 1971.

The book was spread. However, recently the book Sum Kuning which was printed as many as 10 thousand copies was included in the forbidden list. This condition is because the presence of books is considered by the government through the Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office to disrupt the stability of security and public order.

This condition made thousands of books ready for distribution confiscated. The 128-page circulation ban was enforced until the legal process for the Sum Kuning case was completely completed. They think that the content of the book is feared to affect the course of the Sum Kuning case.

In fact, the Sum Kuning case is considered complete without dragging the real perpetrator. This condition tarnished the face of Indonesian law enforcement. Indonesian law fell to its lowest level. The case of finding and punishing the perpetrators of rape alone, law enforcers are unable.

Tapi bukan hanya Sum Kuning yang saat ini kondisi ditutup. Ribu buku tentang Sum Kuning saat ini sedang berada dalam pengelian Kejaksaan Tinggi Yogyakarta. Kata Kejaksaan Agung buku itu dikhawatirkan akan dapat mengganggu keamanan dan ketertiban umum.

"As a limit to the prohibition of circulation, it is stated: until the completion of the investigation/re-investigation that is being carried out by the Police. That means it will not last until a certain time, even if for example Soewindo, the lawyer said that the prosecution's actions were temporary. This means that according to Soewindo, the sealing will also be abolished soon," wrote Tempo magazine report entitled Sum, Stop!(1971).