DPR Member Says Sexual Violence Case at UPN Veteran Yogyakarta Has Become an Emergency

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Speaker of Commission X of the DPR, Lalu Hadrian Irfani (Ari), said the sexual violence case involving a lecturer at UPN Veteran Yogyakarta has become so urgent that students demonstrated at the rectorate office. ‘We are deeply concerned and condemn all forms of sexual violence in higher education environments, including at UPN Veteran Yogyakarta. For us, this is already extremely urgent,’ Ari told Kompas.com on Friday (22 May 2026). Ari added that his side urged Kemendikti Saintek to intervene to oversee a transparent, objective investigation that is sympathetic to victims. ‘We appreciate the campus taking preventive steps in accordance with Permendikbudristek No. 55 of 2024 and the Rector’s Decree suspending the lecturer in question during the legal process,’ Ari said. ‘However, we also urge the campus to provide full protection for victims, whether psychologically, academically, or legally,’ he added. He stated that the sexual violence case by a lecturer is a serious test of the commitment of all parties to education. ‘And our message is that the Satgas PPKS (Satuan Tugas Pencegahan dan Penanganan Kekerasan Seksual) on campuses must really work according to its duties, so that such incidents do not happen elsewhere. There must be no power relations in the world of education that shield such violence,’ Ari said. The Chairman of BEM KM UPN Veteran Yogyakarta, Muhammad Risyad Hanafi, said the student action represents the accumulating anger over the alleged sexual violence involving a lecturer. ‘It will next blow up in other faculties, and after that the students decided to demand accountability from the Satgas PPKPT and also the Rector for their commitment to resolving this case as such,’ he said after a demonstration at the Rectorate Building of UPN Veteran Yogyakarta, Wednesday (20 May 2026). They also demanded that the perpetrator(s) be temporarily suspended until the process is complete. ‘For the Rector, he must resolve this with commitment as soon as possible, ideally within three days. Within three days, all perpetrators should be suspended until the process is completed,’ he added. ‘In fact, there was no task force at that time. The lecturer’s case has emerged on this campus since 2013 with similar cases; many different lecturers, different cases,’ Risyad explained. ‘There are physical and verbal forms; there are video recordings we have collected showing how he speaks in class or in open forums with sexually sexist jokes,’ he elaborated.