Because Their Child's Photo Is In Michat, Parents Report To The Police, Raid Apartments That Are Used As Online Prostitution Sites

The atmosphere outside the apartment after the online prostitution raid/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio

JAKARTA – After the discovery of online prostitution in an apartment in the Pulogebang area, East Jakarta, the area around the building looks deserted. Based on observations at the location, a banner was spread against prostitution activities in the area.

"We residents of Sentra Timur Residence REFUSE!!! We firmly reject all acts of prostitution/prostitution, immorality/adultery, crime, drugs/alcohol, underage tenants, and other unlawful acts in the area where we live."

Subekti, one of the local residents testified about online prostitution after the police raid.

According to Subekti, every night before the holiday is usually crowded with teenage couples entering the apartment location.

"Every Saturday night, if it's not Sunday night, there will be a lot of people (who come)," said Subekti, an online motorcycle taxi driver from a local resident.

Furthermore, Subekti also said that many couples came with motorbikes.

"The couple rides his motorbike. Sometimes the group also rides a motorbike too, but they don't know it's their girlfriend or friends," added Subekti.

Furthermore, Subekti assumed that the teenage boys and girls who were waiting at the bus stop near the entrance to the apartment had previously made an appointment.

"Before he entered there he was waiting for him at the bus stop. Yes, it's a girl, it's a boy. Maybe it's an appointment," he said.

Previously, Polda Metro Jaya conducted a raid on the practice of online prostitution of minors in an apartment in Pulogebang, East Jakarta. The raid was carried out on the basis of a report from the parents of one of the victims on Tuesday, September 28.

The reporting parents make a police report at the SPKT Polda Metro Jaya. The reason the victim's parents made the report was because their child with the initials MF (17) left the house without permission with his friend and never came home. It happened early September.

Then, Friday, September 24, the victim's parents saw a photo of their child on a MiChat social media account that offers online prostitution services.

Based on the report, the Sub-Directorate of the Renakta of the Directorate of General Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) of the Metro Jaya Police carried out a raid on the practice of prostitution in the apartment on Wednesday, September 29.

A total of three child victims of sexual exploitation were arrested from the location of the raid, namely MF (17), SIR (16), and AJ (17). Meanwhile, two pimps with the initials MH (17) and DZH (17) were also arrested. Both of them used the mode of making the victim as a girlfriend and then invited to the apartment. Furthermore, pimps peddle victims through the MiChat application.

The police secured evidence in the form of BO (booking) money worth Rp600 thousand, two unused condoms, cellphones, screenshots (screenshots) of the MiChat chat application, and birth certificates.