Fri, 28 Sep 2001

Housemaid recruitment agencies to be raided

JAKARTA (JP): The police are planning to raid housemaid recruitment agencies that are believed to be used as a cover for the trafficking of women, especially underage girls, for prostitution.

The decision was made on Thursday following a crackdown on an agency in Mangga Besar, Central Jakarta, and Cempaka Bar in Pejagalan, North Jakarta, on the previous day. Three people were arrested for allegedly being involved in the crime, while 17 women who had become victims of the illicit business were freed by the police.

North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Andi Chaeruddin said that police had received reports about several housemaid recruitment agencies believed to have frequently supplied girls to middlemen, who would later sell them to nightspots or massage parlors.

"I suspect the business is run by a syndicate that operates widely in the capital," Andi told The Jakarta Post.

Police from the Penjaringan subprecinct arrested on Tuesday three people for their alleged part in the trafficking. They were identified as Iskandar, 46, owner of Cempaka Bar, Dju Dju Ardasih, 45, owner of Yayasan Karya Setiawan, the housemaid recruitment agency, and Hartadi, 35, a staff member at the agency.

Andi said the three were still being intensively questioned by Penjaringan police to find out if they were working with other groups.

The three are being questioned for allegedly violating Article 296 of the Criminal Code on indecent conduct, and Article 297 on trading in under-age boys and girls, according to Andi.

Article 296 carries a maximum sentence of a one-year-and-four- month jail term or a Rp 15,000 fine, while anyone guilty of violating Article 297 could be sentenced to six years in jail at the most.

Police made the arrest after receiving a report from 17-year- old Laila. She said she had been deceived by Iskandar, who offered her a job as a housemaid with a high salary, about three months ago.

However, the girl who hailed from Ciledug, Banten, said she, along with several others, was forced to work as a prostitute in Cempaka Bar, which was owned by Iskandar.

Mostly aged under 17, the girls told the police that they did not receive any salary from the bar's management. They received only tips given by their guests, who were charged around Rp 50,000 per night for the girls' services.

The girls came from various places like Pekalongan, Central Java, Jember, East Java and Lampung. They were mostly "trapped" as soon as they arrived in Jakarta at bus terminals, where people offered them a job as a domestic helper with a high salary.

Andi agreed that trafficking in women, which was rampant here, was a familiar problem.

"This is definitely not a new crime. We know about the practice but the problem is such that the crime is hard to detect as the victims are reluctant to report their unlucky fate," he said.

Last week, police reportedly raided a house in Lemahabang, Bekasi, where five women had been held before being employed as prostitutes. Two other women were arrested for their alleged part in the crime.

Police suspected that the victims, who were promised jobs as factory workers or housemaids, would be sent to nightspots in Batam.(emf)