18 prostitutes caught during raid near Monas<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Eighteen prostitutes were rounded up on Tuesday
\nnight at the Medan Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, in a joint
\nraid by officers of the city's public order office, social
\nservice agency and the police, an official said.<\/p>\n
Toha Reno, head of the public facility section of the public
\norder office, said on Wednesday that besides the prostitutes,
\nwhich were aged between 15 and 36, the officers also arrested a
\ntransvestite and two alleged hoodlums.<\/p>\n
\"(The raid) was conducted from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. The arrested
\npeople are being detained at a city-run social service center,
\nBina Karya Bangun Daya 02, in Kedoya, West Jakarta,\" Toha told
\nreporters at City Hall.<\/p>\n
\"They will be further selected by social workers at the center
\nfor training courses, depending on their work skills. They can
\npossibly even be detained for a longer period.\"<\/p>\n
Medan Merdeka Square, where the National Monument (Monas)
\nstands, has became the haunt of scores of prostitutes. Most of
\nthem cover up their profession by selling teh botol, a local tea
\ndrink, for Rp 3000, about three times the normal market price.<\/p>\n
The women, known as sellers of \"teh botol plus\", operate from
\n8:30 p.m. to about 4 a.m. and are usually selective in choosing
\nbuyers for their drinks.<\/p>\n
\"They will, for instance, sell to men who will allow them to
\nsit in the car for a while,\" Toha said.<\/p>\n
Toha said that the women on Tuesday night were found attending
\nto \"hidung belang\" (a slang term for their customers) and tried
\nto run away when they realized they were about to be caught.<\/p>\n
\"Some even tried getting on the back of ojek (motorcycle
\ntaxis) and shouted at the drivers to drive quickly. The officers
\nchased after and caught them,\" Toha said.<\/p>\n
\"The women cried. Some said they were married, others said
\nthey were widows. Several of them said they had to feed their
\nfamilies... and could not do anything.\"<\/p>\n
An officer at the office, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
\nsaid the male clients of the prostitutes were not arrested.<\/p>\n
\"What should we do... they seemed to be from respectable
\nfamilies,\" the officer told reporters.<\/p>\n
Quoting data from the office, Toha said that the arrested
\nwomen claimed to be from various cities, including Ciamis,
\nBandung and Bogor in West Java, Semarang, Brebes and Pemalang in
\nCentral Java, Medan in North Sumatra, and South Sumatra and
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"Two girls, 15 years and 17 old, said they had to send the
\nmoney to their families in the cities they lived in... What
\ncould we do?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tuesday night's raid was the second one this month. In the
\nfirst raid the officers rounded up 28 beggars, 10 men asking for
\nmoney for charity in traditional Muslim costumes and eight
\nvagrants.<\/p>\n
\"We could not catch prostitutes in the first raid as we were
\nusing official police cars. This time, the officers didn't use
\nofficial cars. They used their own cars and acted as customers,\"
\nToha said.(ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/18-prostitutes-caught-during-raid-near-monas-1447893297",
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