Alleged rapist of housemaid arrested
Alleged rapist of housemaid arrested
JAKARTA (JP): Menteng police apprehended a driver at noon
yesterday for allegedly raping a housemaid who was mistakenly
picked up in an official crackdown on street walkers last week.
The suspect was identified as Aswin, 36, resident of
Petukangan Utara, South Jakarta.
"The suspect is not an official of the city public order
office," City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said
yesterday.
At the preliminary questioning the suspect said he worked for
an individual as a school bus driver.
The suspect claimed he had a friend working for the city
public order office, Iman said. "I have not collected adequate
information. I cannot explain how he could have been at the city
public order office at that time."
The rape story hit the headlines after the housemaid,
accompanied by her employer, reported to the Menteng police
subprecinct that she had been raped. Identified only as RR, she
alleged that an official of the city public order office, who
picked her up for having no ID card, was the rapist.
RR told the police she was raped in a house she could not
identify after the officers ordered her and other women, who were
believed to be street walkers, to take a bath on Jan. 18.
The victim, who hails from Indramayu, West Java, worked for a
family living in Menteng.
The rape report has jolted City Hall and enraged Deputy
Governor for Social Welfare Museno.
He instructed his subordinates to investigate the report and
threatened to severely punish any subordinate found guilty of the
rape.
Museno's instruction prompted the head of the city public and
order office, Kuseini Budiono, to summon his subordinates from
three districts in Central Jakarta office.
Kuseini asked the officials to line up in front of him on
Wednesday morning and asked them one by one if they committed the
crime or knew about it.
"The allegations are a severe blow to my office, as it came in
the middle of the national discipline campaign," Kuseini said on
Wednesday. (bsr/sur)