Man gets 8 months for molestation

JAKARTA (JP): Defendant Nasir Salim, 49, flashed a small smile on Tuesday after the judge presiding over his case at the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced him to eight months in prison for physically abusing a prospective foreign worker.

"The (four months) the defendant spent at Salemba penitentiary is automatically subtracted from the sentence," presiding judge Hoepojo told the court.

The defendant, he said, was guilty of violating Article 351 of the Criminal Code on physical abuse, which carries a maximum sentence of two years and eight months in prison.

The sentence was lighter than the one-year jail term demanded by prosecutor Abdul Kadir Latief.

The prosecutor earlier charged Nasir with physically abusing Iis binti Kanda and sexually molesting another woman, Yayan Yulianti, on March 11 this year. The incidents took place on Jl. Percetakan Negara X at a two-story all-female dormitory used to house women before they are sent to work abroad.

But the court found Nasir not guilty of the sexual molestation charge due to a lack of witnesses and evidence.

According to Abdul, Nasir, who was drunk at the time the incidents occurred, forced Yayan to give him a massage at 10:30 p.m., during which he fondled her breasts, buttocks, thighs and genitalia.

"Later that night, as witnessed by several people, he banged Iis' head at least twice against the floor, until she was bleeding from her head," the prosecutor said.

The dormitory is owned by PT Dian Karya Trampil, a labor export firm run by the defendant's younger sister, Fathia Salim, alias Patya.

Both Iis and Yayan are currently working in Saudi Arabia. (ylt)