From Boarding House Group to Alleged Harassment: FH UI Case Involves 27 Victims

Allegations of sexual violence involving 16 students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia (FH UI) continue to uncover new facts. To date, the number of victims recorded stands at 27 people, comprising students and lecturers.

According to detikEdu, the case began with a conversation group initially used by boarding house residents since 2024. However, over time, the content of the conversations in the group shifted to a sexual tone and demeaned women.

“As far as I know, it started as a boarding house group. But how it developed into that, I don’t know,” said the Chairman of the FH UI Student Executive Board, Anandaku Dimas Rumi Chattaristo, at the University of Indonesia Student Activity Centre, Depok, West Java, on Tuesday (14/4/2026).

The victims’ legal representative, Timotius Rajagukguk, added that the group did not only consist of boarding house residents but also involved parties outside that living environment.

The sexually charged conversations in the group began to surface in 2025. However, the victims reportedly did not yet dare to report or bring the case to the public domain at that time. It was only in early 2026 that the victims sought legal assistance, eventually bringing the case to public attention.

“The victims have known they were harassed since 2025. So I think we can all imagine how they felt from 2025 onwards. Every time they entered the campus, every time they entered class, they knew that the perpetrators could discuss them, harass them, right in front of them,” he said.

From preliminary data collection, the number of victims reaches 27 people. The breakdown is 20 victims are female FH UI students, while the other seven are female lecturers.

Ironically, most of the victims and perpetrators are in the same social circle. They are known to be classmates, even in the same class. In addition, the victims also come from various levels, from juniors to lecturers.

The case has sparked a strong reaction in the campus environment. The 16 students suspected of being involved have been asked to issue a public apology in an internal forum. In that forum, they received reprimands from the attending students.

“When I heard, when I saw the chat, oh my name (is also) in there,” said one female lecturer who also spoke in the forum, as seen from a video circulating on social media.

Currently, the handling of the case has involved the University of Indonesia’s Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence (Satgas PPKS). The victims’ side has also submitted various pieces of evidence and chronologies to be followed up.

Komnas Perempuan: Ironic!

The Chair of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, Maria Ulfah Anshor, expressed deep concern over the case. She highlighted the irony when actions that demean human dignity are carried out by educated individuals from a leading higher education institution.

According to Maria Ulfah, the situation is even more distressing because the perpetrators are law students who are studying important issues such as human rights, dignity, and law at Indonesia’s prestigious law faculty.

“Sexist statements that demean women’s dignity, ironically, are made by law students who should understand humanitarian values. Even more tragic, they are the ones who should be safeguarding the implementation of the Sexual Violence Crime Law,” said Maria Ulfah in a statement on Tuesday (14/4/2026).

She also urged the campus side not to stop at superficial handling but to investigate further for possible similar forms of violence outside the group chat space.

The campus, she said, needs to open safe spaces for victims to report, especially if sexist statements are also conveyed directly, either through chat messages or verbal interactions.

“Have those statements also been conveyed to the women they meet through chat or verbal expressions? Whether as fellow student friends or their work partners?” said the former Chair of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) from 2010-2012.

She continued, “It can’t just be reprimanding the perpetrators’ behaviour as UI students. That doesn’t solve the problem. Because this becomes a habit later. Don’t consider it as something normal. Whereas this is sexual violence.”