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.