Police Revealed The Confinement Of 53 Women In Yogyakarta, Victims Made LC In Sarkem

A press conference related to the TIP case at the Yogyakarta Police Headquarters, Thursday (27/7/2023) (ANTARA/Luqman Hakim)

Yogyakarta Police arrested two men with the initials AW (43) and SU (49) suspected perpetrators of criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO) and exploitation of 53 women. They were held captive and used as song guides alias ladies companion (LC) in the Kembang Market (Sarkem) area.

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Yogyakarta Police, AKP Archye Nevada, said the case was revealed on Friday (21/7) after the police visited the location in Gedongtengen, Yogyakarta City, which houses TIP victims.

"We have named AW and SU as suspects and now we have detained him at the Yogyakarta Police detention center," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, July 27.

Archye explained that the disclosure of the case stems from information related to the existence of a woman's shelter under the guise of a salon in Gedongten, Yogyakarta City.

The information was obtained from one of the women who managed to escape from the shelter.

"Feeling confined there, the woman finally fled through the back until she broke into the neighbor's asbestos," he said.

After searching the place, the police found 53 women with two of them being minors who were then taken to the Yogyakarta Police Station for examination.

According to him, dozens of women were only allowed to leave the shelter when they worked from 19.00 WIB to 04.00 WIB.

They were accommodated and then employed as song guides at karaoke venues in the Pasar Kembang area, Yogyakarta City.

"You can only do work activities. You can't go out of the shelter other than during working hours," he said.

Based on the information obtained by investigators, the shelter has been operating since 2014 and many women have been in and out of the shelter.

According to Archye, at the shelter, the police also secured 120 female ID cards who had worked in that place.

In the TIP case, AW, a resident of Gedongtengen, Yogyakarta, acts as a shelter owner, while SU, a resident of Kebumen, Central Java, is tasked with finding targets for victims as well as salon admins.

He revealed that the victims were recruited by the perpetrators by buying a number of items such as cell phones to loan money and then tied to the work of the contract system.

While working at a karaoke place in Kembang Market, they were paid Rp. 100,000 per hour while the holder owner collected 25 percent of the money.

However, the salaries earned by the victims did not match what they should have received. "It's not what they got because there are many deductions and fines," he said.

For their actions, the two perpetrators were charged with a number of articles, including Article 2 paragraph 1 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons.

Next, Article 88 of Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Child Protection and Article 296 in conjunction with Article 506 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Some of the victims from outside DIY such as Central Java and West Java were sent back to their area of origin.

"We have entrusted the children to child care. The others return to their area of origin," said Archye.