Court begins STPDN killing trials
Court begins STPDN killing trials
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Sumedang District Court opened the trials on Tuesday of 10
students of the Public Administration Institute (STPDN) charged
with killing junior Wahyu Hidayat, 20, early in September.
The defendants were charged with violating Articles 170 and
351 of the Criminal Code for causing the death of Wahyu.
However, one of the defendants, Hendi Setiyadi, failed to
appear at his first session, Antara reported.
The nine others are Sandra Rahman, Yayan Sopiyan, Dadang Hadi
Surya, Oktaviano, Minang Santoso, Bangun Robinson Napitupulu,
Gema Awal Ramadhan, Dekky Suwandi, Dana Reka and Yopi Maulana.
The defendants were tried separately with prosecutors
presenting four dossiers on them.
"The defendants are found guilty of attacking the victim,
Wahyu Hidayat, sometime in September, with the aim of instilling
discipline in him.
"The attack led to the death of Wahyu after being beaten for
about three hours by the defendants," a prosecutor told the
court.
Present at Tuesday's trials were Wahyu's parents Syarif
Hidayatullah and Siti Rosada.
Wahyu, a second-year student, died after being beaten by
dozens of senior students at the institute, which has a
reputation for imposing military-style discipline on its
students.
The senior students decided to teach Wahyu a "lesson" as they
considered him disloyal for not showing up at an Independence Day
ceremony.
The investigation into his death uncovered other cases of
violence as more parents filed complaints over abuses allegedly
committed by senior students against their children.
Ahead of his trial, Sandra Rahman received a surprise visit
from Wahyu's mother who yelled at him while he was detained in a
cell at the Sumedang District Court.
"Of course, you have a mother like anyone else because you did
not come out of a hole in the ground. Imagine what your mother
would feel if you were bullied to death? A mother would send her
son to the doctor if he were sick. But my son was been beaten to
death by you," Rosada said angrily as quoted by Antara.
In a response, Rahman simply said, "We had no intention of
killing your son. We just wanted to guide the juniors to be good
students".
The trials were adjourned until Dec. 18.
On Monday, the court also tried another case of hazing
experienced by STPDN student Jurinata from South Kalimantan. The
police have also completed a dossier on a similar attack
inflicted upon Muhana from Karawang, West Java.
All the three incidents occurred earlier this year.
The death of Wahyu drew national attention because he was not
the first victim of seniors' brutality. Three years ago, Erie
Rakhman also died after being beaten by senior students. Seven
students were charged in the death of Erie and were sentenced to
prison by the Sumedang District Court.