Accused STPDN hazers file counter complaint
Accused STPDN hazers file counter complaint
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung
Two students blamed for the latest violent hazing incident at the
state-run Institute of Public Administration (STPDN) in Sumedang,
West Java, filed a counter complaint with police against the
victim.
Sumedang Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagiyono said on Friday
his office received the complaint from the suspects, Imam
Suhaeri, 21, and Nurmansyah Putra, 21, just hours after the two
were expelled from the school.
The two suspects accused their 19-year old victim, Ichsan
Suheri, and his father Hanafiah, who is the West Langsa district
military chief in Aceh, of tarnishing their image, which led to
their dismissal from the institute.
Earlier, Hanafiah reported to the police and the institute
that his son, a younger student at the school, had been bullied
by a group of upperclassmen at the school on Oct. 16.
Ichsan was hospitalized in Bandung for several days and later
flew home along with his father to Aceh to undergo two months of
counseling for psychological trauma due to the violent hazing
ritual at the school.
Hanafiah also reported the case to the Ministry of Home
Affairs, which oversees the civil servant preparatory institute
in Jatinangor, Sumedang, some 30 kilometers from Bandung.
The ministry later decided to expel Nurmansyah and Imam from
the school on Thursday, while the local police named the two
students as suspects in a criminal case.
It was not clear why the suspects did not include the home
affairs ministry and school administrators in their complaint
submitted to the police.
"Even though the two are no longer STPDN students, we will
continue to process their complaint, because every citizen has
the right to get justice if he/she feels wronged," Yoyok told
journalists in Bandung.
He said the suspects complained that they felt embarrassed
because they were accused by the school and the ministry of
lying.
They added that the accusation caused the home affairs
ministry to impose a heavy punishment (dismissal), without giving
them a chance to resume studies at STPDN.
According to Nurmansyah and Imam, the punishment was unfair,
as three other upperclassmen who had been dismissed from the
school as well as convicted by a court over the hazing-related
death of Wahyu Hidayat last year, were allowed to continue their
studies at STPDN.