Minister of Religious Affairs Saddened by Case of Sexual Assault of Female Santri in Pati as He Prepares Dirjen Pesantren

JAKARTA — The Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag), Nasaruddin Umar,said he was deeply saddened by reports of alleged sexual assault of a female santri by a kiai at Pondok Pesantren Ndholo Kusumo in Pati. The expression of sadness was made during the Sarasehan Gerakan Pesantren Anti Kekerasan Seksual organised by PKB at Grand Mercure Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Monday (18 May 2026).

‘In fact, we are in a state of real sadness because we are preparing for the birth of the Dirjen Pesantren at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and suddenly we are confronted with such devastating news,’ Nasaruddin said on Monday night. ‘Over the past month we have been preparing something that is very theoretical, because the pesantren will depart from the Ditjen Pendidikan Islam,’ he added.

Consequently, the next task for the Ministry must be able to distinguish the nomenclature of the Ditjen Pendidikan Islam and the Ditjen Pesantren. ‘It’s not an easy job for me personally, because we are often in the academic world, we must understand the body of knowledge of each discipline. It is not easy to distinguish between the discipline of Islam education and the discipline of pesantren,’ Nasaruddin said. ‘This must be clear because if there is overlap, Bappenas and the Ministry of Finance will not disburse its funds. We also have to determine the difference between the two,’ he added.

Nasaruddin also noted that there are still several pesantren that legitimise social relations that uphold power relations. ‘Generally, pesantren that engage in sexual violence activities are the ghost/false ones. They are not registered with the Ministry of Religious Affairs,’ said the Imam of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque.

In the midst of forming the Ditjen Pesantren, a case emerged of the founder and leader of Pondok Pesantren Ndholo Kusumo, Kiai Ashari (51), who has molested his santri. Ashari has been named a suspect after being arrested by a joint team of the Pati Police and Central Java Regional Police in Wonogiri on Thursday (7 May 2026) after fleeing. The Regional Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Central Java Province confirmed that the education rights of dozens of santri affected by the sexual violence case were still being fulfilled. Learning processes for the santri continued through the learning schemes prepared even though the pesantren’s operating licence had been revoked since 5 May 2026.