Child Of East Seram DPRD Fraction Leader And His 3 Friends Allegedly Perpetrators Of Rape Of MTs Student, Komnas HAM Urges Police To Investigate

Acting Head of National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) representative of Maluku Anselmus Sowa Bolen. (ANTARA)

AMBON - The Maluku National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Representative urged the East Seram Police (SBT) to immediately investigate and arrest the four perpetrators of the rape of MTs students.

Acting Head of the Maluku National Commission on Human Rights, Anselm Sowa Bolen expressed concern and strongly condemned the coercion of MTs students at SBT which caused the victims to become depressed and contemplate suicide.

"For this reason, the Maluku Representative Komnas HAM asked the SBT Police to immediately investigate and arrest the four perpetrators of the rape of the MTs student," said Sowa Bolen in Ambon, Antara, Tuesday, February 28.

Rape is a crime of sexual violence which is not only an ordinary crime, but also a violation of human rights. International law categorizes sexual violence as a crime against humanity because the victim's dignity and status as a human being is damaged.

"What's more, the victim, in this case, is still a child, the incident of sexual violence experienced will have an impact on her psychological, physical, and social life," he said.

According to him, in general, sexual violence against children will have an impact on the victim becoming a closed and insecure person, resulting in feelings of guilt, stress, depression, certain fears, and phobias, suffering from traumatic disorders after the incident, difficulty eating and sleeping, and even having nightmares, sexual dysfunction, easy to feel afraid and excessive anxiety, and affect academic achievement.

"We also ask that attention be paid to and prioritize the partiality of victims through efforts to rehabilitate and assist victims in the examination process, taking into account their rights as child victims," ​​said Sowa Bolen.

Komnas HAM Maluku Representative also asked the SBT Regency Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Service through the SBT Women's and Children's Empowerment Integrated Service Center (P2TP2A) which had been formed in June 2022, to immediately provide assistance to victims.

"In accordance with Komnas HAM's monitoring mandate as regulated in Article 89 paragraph 3 of Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, the Maluku Representative Komnas HAM will take the initiative/pro-actively to follow up on this incident through inquiries of parties including the Police and the SBT Government," said Sowa Bolen.

The incident in September 2022 started when Gadis (a pseudonym) allegedly dated Ayas, the son of a faction leader in the East Seram DPRD. As many as four people, including the son of the SBT DPRD leader, are suspected of having committed a forceful assault on the minor who was still in class IX at the junior high school.

According to Gadis' confession to her family, the incident started when Ayas invited her to his parent's house in Pesan Street, Bula City.

Then Ayas forced Gadis to have intercourse like husband and wife in one of the workshops in front of his father's house. This action continued in October at a different location, namely at the school of the perpetrator and the victim.

At that time, Gadis was forced to obey Ayas' wishes. If she refuses, Ayas threatens to spread information regarding their intercourse at the previous workshop. With fear, Gadis is forced to follow Ayas' wishes. However, not only Ayas, Gadis is forced to serve the depraved lusts of Ayas's three friends.

Based on the information from Gadis' family, Iwan explained that Gadis was repeatedly raped by Ayas and his friends until January 2023.

This case was uncovered when the family suspected the victim complained of pain in her intimate area. In addition, there were bruises on the victim's neck and back.

After being interrogated by the family, the girl revealed the dark events she had experienced. Apart from Ayas, Gadis admits that one of the perpetrators is the son of the vice chairman of the East Seram DPRD.

The victim's family received a post-mortem examination and reported this case to the East Seram Police Headquarters on Wednesday, February 15. Meanwhile, the family of the alleged perpetrator could not be reached for confirmation.

Because of this incident, Gadis was desperate to end her life because she was suspected of being depressed and unable to hold back the shame.

This is known, from a letter found by her family. The letter contains an apology to her family and a chronology of what happened to her from September 2022 to January 2023.

In the letter, Gadis admits that she is crazy and depressed so she is ready to commit suicide because she is already ashamed of the tragedy she has experienced.

"If you want to say crazy, I am crazy. If you want to say stressful, I am even frustrated. I'm even ready to commit suicide," wrote Gadis in an excerpt from the contents of the letter.