Child Predators In Orphanages When They Should Be Safe Places

The Ministry Of Social Affairs, KPAI And The Police At The Tangerang Social Service Office discussed cases of sexual harassment at the Tangerang orphanage/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Arzeti Bilbina condemned the sexual abuse at the Darussalam An'Nur Foundation Orphanage in Kunciran Indah, Tangerang City. The importance of psychological assistance for the victims.

This is a heinous and very worrying act. The Orphanage Foundation, which should be a safe place for children, has even an disgraceful action from its own owners and administrators. The perpetrators must be given the harshest punishment," said Arzeti Bilbina, Thursday, October 10.

This child predator case was uncovered starting with one of the victims with the initials R (16) who reported the sexual abuse to the police in July 2024. From the results of the examination of a number of witnesses and victims, the police have named three suspects in this case.

The three suspects are Sudirman (49) as chairman of the foundation, as well as Yusuf Bahtiar (30) and Yandi Supriyadi (28) as caregiver. Sudirman and Yusuf have been arrested, while Yandi is still being hunted by the police and is now in the DPO (People Search List).

Arzeti, who previously served in Commission IX of the DPR with the field of work in the health sector, hoped that the police and relevant stakeholders would provide intensive psychological assistance to victims so that the incident would not have an impact on their future.

"In addition to physical health checks, psychological assistance for intense victims must be a priority. This is for the mental health of children who have experienced this extraordinary heinous incident," he said.

Psychological guidance as part of the process of healing victims' trauma. Children still have a future, lest they lose hope and confidence or become more severe predators too," added Arzeti.

The motive for the sexual predator case was revealed that one of the suspects had also been a victim of predators, resulting in sexual deviation. Arzeti hopes that the Government will pay attention to this issue.

"Make sure all human resources in institutions that handle children are examined from a psychological perspective. So official certification is very important, including intensive training related to parenting, child protection, and a professional code of ethics," he said.

"This certification must be a mandatory requirement before a person is allowed to work in an orphanage or a social foundation," continued Arzeti.

It is known that there have been 8 victims of child predator sexual abuse at the Kunciran Orphanage. The current number of victims is 8 people, all of whom are male. Of the 8 victims, 5 were children and 3 were adults.

So far the police have obtained data on 18 children being treated at the Kunciran Orphanage, of which 2 are still Toddlers. Police are still investigating the possibility of other victims from the suspects.

Arzeti emphasized that children must feel safe in care at orphanage foundations.

The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) stated that the Darussalam An'Nur Foundation in Kunciran Pinang, Tangerang City, was not registered as an orphanage or child social welfare institution (LKSA) at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Seeing this, Arzeti hopes that the Government will tighten operational supervision of orphanages throughout Indonesia.

"In the future, we hope that the Government can strengthen supervision of all existing foundations. In order to ensure that the foundation is legally registered and safe in carrying out its operations," said the legislator from the East Java I electoral district.

Arzeti reminded that the establishment of social institutions must go through a strict verification process, and caregivers must have recognized certification.

"periodic supervision and the formation of a special supervisory agency are also very much needed to prevent the recurrence of this tragedy," said Arzeti.

Of the many foster children in the Kunciran Orphanage, not all of them are orphans because there are several children who turn out to still have parents, including one of the toddlers who has now been returned to their parents.

Sudirman as chairman of the foundation is also known to manipulate the data of foster children to raise funds from donors.

"This problem must be thoroughly investigated because it could be a criminal act as well. We hope that all perpetrators can serve a harsh sentence because they have hurt and harmed children," concluded Arzeti.