Irony in East Flores: Fugitive Suspect in Rape Case of a Junior High School Student Ends Up Enlisting in the Indonesian Army

An Indonesian youth with the initials ADO, named as a suspect in a rape case involving a student MFNL (16) in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has unexpectedly passed to become a soldier in the Indonesian Army (TNI AD). Yet, ADO had been on the fugitive list since October 2025.

The case was reported by the victim’s parents on 31 August 2025. The incident occurred the day before, Saturday 30 August, when the victim, who had just finished junior high school, went to school to collect her certificate around 07:00 local time.

The victim’s mother, Theresia Jawa Welan, said that at that time the school asked for the certificate collection to be witnessed by a guardian. ADO, who was an alumnus of the school, approached the victim.

“Ade urus ijazah kah? Iya. Nona (MFNL) minta ADO jadi saksi ambil ijazah. Demikian pula ADO minta MFNL jadi saksi untuk ambil ijazah,” said Theresia when contacted by detikBali, Thursday at her home in Larantuka.

Because of the long wait, MFNL went to buy food. But ADO followed and invited the victim to his house in Lamawalang, under the pretext of finding another shop.

“By the time they arrived there, there was no one selling. They also went to Patai Susteran and there was no one selling rice. ADO brought MFNL to Lamawalang at his house,” she added.

At the house, the victim asked to be returned home. But ADO forced the victim into a room.

“Take her to the house. He said ‘come in first; it’s okay’. When the victim moved forward, ADO pulled her into the room and closed the window. MFNL became scared. He urged MFNL to lie down. MFNL refused. He pulled MFNL’s child to sit on the bed, wanted to kiss, then undressed MFNL causing bleeding,” she said.

After the incident, the victim was taken home. In the following days, the victim bled for up to three weeks and was taken to a doctor.

“Our family thought that the story was that she was not dating anyone. There was no prior communication until the perpetrator forcibly dragged our daughter, so we reported to the police. The girl experienced heavy bleeding for three weeks. At the police station I was called several times, and they showed evidence and said the file would be handed to the prosecutors,” she explained.

“I took her to a gynaecologist. This is due to stress that this happened. She (MFNL) often isolates herself in her room, does not eat, causing her stomach to hurt and she vomits blood; and the school asked her to take some rest,” she said.

Public Relations Chief of Flores Timur Police, AKP Eliezer A Kalelado, said ADO was named a suspect on 23 September 2025 after a case review and the sufficiency of two pieces of evidence.

“From the investigation, the case review was conducted and the case was raised to the investigation stage. From the results of the case review, ADO was named a suspect because two pieces of evidence had been fulfilled,” he explained.

Investigators had called ADO twice, but he did not appear. “But on both occasions, ADO absented himself without reason,” he explained.

Investigators then placed ADO on the DPO on 16 October 2025.

“Investigators placed the suspect ADO on the wanted list (DPO) on 16 October 2025,” he concluded.

Theresia said that after the August incident, ADO took the TNI test in October and passed, continuing his education in Bali.

“The August incident; he took the TNI test in October. In December, his family came to me. He had not gone to Kalimantan, but went to Kupang for the test. After passing in Kupang, he progressed to further education in Bali,” she said.

Flores Timur Police said they would coordinate with the Indonesian Army Military Police Detachment regarding the suspect who had been sworn in as a TNI AD soldier on 4 February 2026.

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