DPR Member Urges Sexual Harassment Case to Be Brought to Legal Realm
Deputy Chair of Commission X of the House of Representatives, My Esti Wijayanti, has urged Universitas Indonesia to impose strict sanctions on more than a dozen law faculty students involved in sexual harassment within a conversation group. Esti also requested that Indonesia’s top university bring this case to the legal realm.
According to Esti, the imposition of sanctions must not stop at the internal campus level, including if the sanction involves revoking student status, or dropping out. She stated that the campus must also ensure that the perpetrators are brought to court.
“Legal intervention is needed to create a deterrent effect for the sake of justice for the victims and those harmed by this,” she said in a press statement on Wednesday, 15 April 2026.
Esti assessed that the lewd and harassing conversations conducted by more than a dozen Universitas Indonesia law faculty students in their conversation group were not merely ordinary jokes. She opined that the actions meet the elements of sexual violence as stipulated in Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes (UU TPKS).
Moreover, she said, the number of victims from this harassment case reaches dozens and has been ongoing for years. “What the perpetrators have done meets the elements of sexual violence under UU TPKS. And the perpetrators themselves are law students who should be more sensitive and aware of every legal consequence,” she stated.
She explained that under UU TPKS, types of sexual violence are categorised into several types of actions. One of them is electronic-based sexual violence with a criminal penalty of imprisonment for a maximum of 4 to 6 years and/or a fine of up to Rp200-300 million.
In addition, the legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) stated that conversations leading to objectification and verbal violence are not merely ethical violations. Incidents like this can cause trauma, feelings of insecurity, and prolonged psychological pressure, especially for women.
“With the implementation of strict sanctions in accordance with UU TPKS, we hope that all society, especially in academic environments, will not allow such events to recur,” she said.
Previously, 16 Universitas Indonesia law faculty students were suspected of committing sexual violence. They are suspected of having sexually toned conversations discussing other students in their internal group. The conversation circulated on social media X through a post by the account @sampahfhui on Saturday, 11 April 2026.
The victims’ legal representative, Timotius Rajagukguk, revealed that the victims of the suspected harassment involving Universitas Indonesia Law Faculty (FHUI) students numbered 20 female students and 7 lecturers. According to Timotius, this case has been occurring since 2025, and the victims became aware of being harassed in that year.
Universitas Indonesia’s Director of Public Relations, Media, Government, and International Relations, Erwin Agustian Panigoro, stated that up to today, UI has designated 16 students as suspected perpetrators involved in the harassment incident. He assured that the university will impose sanctions if they are proven to have committed sexual harassment.
“Including the possibility of academic sanctions according to the level of violation proven,” Erwin said in a written statement on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.