Kidnapped and Raped for 9 Days, SMP Student in Dompu Chooses to Drop Out

Deep trauma after being kidnapped and raped for nine days has led NM (14), an 11th-grade SMP student in Dompu Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), to choose not to continue her schooling. She feels ashamed and afraid to return to the school environment after the sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by a man named Reka (20), whom she knew through the WhatsApp application. “What the victim experienced, she is afraid and doesn’t dare go anywhere, even to school she won’t continue,” said activist for the Protection of Women and Children from the LERA Dompu NGO, Sahrul Ramadhan, to detikBali on Friday (24/4/2026). Sahrul conveyed this after accompanying the victim with her parents at the Dompu Police Resort. He explained that the incident occurred when the victim had just returned from school after taking an exam. Sahrul said that the victim’s parents openly expressed their plan to halt their child’s education for the sake of the victim’s future. In addition, the family also plans to entrust the victim to relatives’ home to avoid bullying and social pressure in the school environment or her residence. “The parents are very frightened because the perpetrator has not been secured. The victim will be moved to her family’s home in another area after this complaint report is completed,” Sahrul explained. Head of the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Agency (DP3A) Unit in Dompu, Utari Rahmawati, emphasised that her side will visit the victim’s school and meet her parents to provide understanding regarding child rights. “A child who becomes a victim of violence must not drop out of school. We will visit the school and meet the parents again. Even though she is a victim, the child’s rights must still be fulfilled,” Utari stated.