The Suspect Of Persecuting A High School Teacher To Blind In Rejang Lebong Turns Out To Be A Recidivist

The suspect AJ (45) was the perpetrator of the persecution of SMAN 7 Rejang Lebong teacher when he was shown to the media at the Rejang Lebong Police Headquarters, Sunday afternoon, (6/8/2023). (Between/Nur Muhamad)

JAKARTA - Police (Polres) Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, arrested the suspect who abused a high school teacher in the area so that the victim was blind due to being stabbed by the perpetrator.

Rejang Lebong Police Chief AKBP Juda Trisno Tampubolon during a press conference at the Rejang Lebong Police Headquarters, Sunday afternoon, said the suspect in the persecution of Zaharman (57), a sports teacher at SMAN 7 Rejang Lebong, was AJ (45), the parent of PDM (16) student who was previously caught smoking by the victim in the school environment.

"This suspect on Saturday night, August 5, 2023, at around 23.05 WIB, was handed over by residents and their families to the Rejang Lebong Police," he said as quoted by Antara.

He explained that the suspect, who had fled after assaulting the victim on Monday (1/8) at around 09.30 WIB in the SMAN 7 Rejang Lebong school environment on Jalan Lintas Curup-Lubuklinggau, Binduriang District, Rejang Lebong Regency, had become a concern for the wider community.

The incident of abuse by the suspect against the victim, he said, was carried out using a catapult with an irregular round stone bullet the size of a leg, the catapult shot released by the suspect hit the victim's right eye ball, causing injury and bleeding.

"Furthermore, the victim tried to save herself walking under a palm tree while holding her injured right eye, after that the suspect threw stones again using a catapult at the victim from the right but it did not hit the victim," he explained.

Seeing the victim's eyes bleeding, then the perpetrator and his child immediately ran out of the school environment on a motorbike and returned home. Meanwhile, the victims were taken by the teachers to the Curup Head Health Center and then referred to the AR Bunda Hospital in Lubuklinggau City, South Sumatra.

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Rejang Lebong Police, Iptu Denyfita Mochtar, explained that the suspect, after persecuting the victim, immediately fled, during which four days of escape he always moved by staying at relatives' homes and residents' houses as well as in gardens.

According to him, the suspect, who was a recidivist in the 2014 violence theft (curas) case and served a 2.5-year sentence, surrendered after four hiding from the pursuit of a joint team from the Rejang Lebong Police, Padang Ulak Tanding Police and Bengkulu Police.

He said that for his actions, the suspect was charged with investigating officers from the Rejang Lebong Police with multiple articles in the case of severe abuse which was carried out with prior plans against a civil servant who was carrying out a legitimate job.

"As referred to in the primary Article 356 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 355 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, the subsidiary of Article 354 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code is more subsidiary to Article 353 paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code is more subsidiary to Article 351 paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code with a maximum imprisonment of 16 years," he said.