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)