Charges against alleged rapist stand: Police<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta police yesterday said that
\ncharges against a suspected rapist will not be dropped despite
\nthe fact that the suspect had married the victim.<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. S.Y. Wenas, the newly-appointed Central Jakarta
\nPolice Precinct chief, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that
\nthe alleged rapist was still under police supervision.<\/p>\n
\"I met and talked to him a few hours ago this afternoon in my
\noffice,\" Wenas said yesterday. \"He's still in Jakarta and his
\ncase has not been dropped.\"<\/p>\n
The dossier on the suspect, a married man before the rape
\ncase, was handed over to the local prosecutors office on Feb. 29.<\/p>\n
While waiting for the prosecutors to put his case on trial,
\n\"the suspect was released but was told to come to the police
\nstation when summoned,\" said Wenas.<\/p>\n
Wenas said nothing about the marriage, which has sparked anger
\nin society, the Indonesian Women's Association For Justice in
\nparticular.<\/p>\n
Media reports said that Aswin was released by Central Jakarta
\npolice and married the victim under police supervision at the
\npolice precinct headquarters on March 4, two days before Wenas
\nwas appointed new chief of the Central Jakarta police replacing
\nLt. Col. Murawi Effendi.<\/p>\n
When contacted by the Post via telephone yesterday, Murawi,
\nwho was in Palembang as the new local police chief, said that he
\nhad not received any reports from his staff about the marriage
\nbetween Aswin and the victim.<\/p>\n
\"The only thing I know is that the dossiers were handed over
\nto the prosecutors,\" Murawi said.<\/p>\n
According to police common procedure, several days before the
\nreplacement the precinct was commanded by the deputy of the local
\npolice chief.<\/p>\n
Maj. Bambang, Murawi's deputy at that time, could not be
\nreached for comments on the marriage, which many consider
\nillegal.<\/p>\n
Lawyers of the rape victim, identified only as Hen, said that
\nCentral Jakarta police officers had witnessed the marriage.<\/p>\n
\"As law enforcers, the police have violated the law,\" said
\nRita Serena Kolibonso of the Jakarta Legal Aid Office (LBH).<\/p>\n
Hen told Sri Mumpuni, another LBH lawyer, that she had also
\nsigned a statement that she would drop charges.<\/p>\n
\"The police should know that as rape is not a case which can
\nbe only investigated based on a victim's report; a marriage or a
\nsigned statement has no effect on the processing of the case,\"
\nRita said.<\/p>\n
Sri Mumpuni said the marriage, though it may be legal, was
\nobviously motivated by the hope that the victim would drop the
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
\"The victim and her father came to us on Monday,\" she said.
\n\"After the marriage which took place on March 4 at the police
\nstation, they felt cheated because Aswin's family never showed up
\nagain,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said Aswin and his family had talked Hen's family
\ninto agreeing to the marriage.<\/p>\n
The family approached Hen's family in Cianjur, West Java,
\nsaying that Hen had been raped and was pregnant. Her parents were
\nashamed and agreed to the marriage.<\/p>\n
\"But Hen was not pregnant,\" Hen's employer, Pertiwi, told the
\nPost. She had her period after the rape, she said.<\/p>\n
The rape happened on Jan. 18 after Hen was taken by officers
\nof the Gambir district branch of the Central Jakarta office of
\nthe city's security and order agency during a raid.<\/p>\n
The raid was aimed at rustling up prostitutes and those
\nwithout identity cards.<\/p>\n
Aswin was an acquaintance of one of the officers, who let him
\nrape Hen for Rp 10,000. The officer has been temporarily removed
\nfrom the security agency.<\/p>\n
In response to an enquiry how cases such as this one could be
\nprevented, Kusaeni Budiantoro, the agency head, told reporters,
\n\"Just stop writing about it.\"<\/p>\n
However he added that he has repeatedly said the case should
\nbe handled according to the law. (bsr\/anr\/04)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/charges-against-alleged-rapist-stand-police-1447893297",
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