Mother of raped baby demands death of rapist

JAKARTA (JP): Housewife Salamah asked law enforcers on Tuesday to sentence the rapist of her 16-month-old daughter to death.

"That person must be sentenced to death ... although it's still not enough for such a man," Salamah told reporters during a visit by wives of top officials of the Jakarta Police at her former husband's home on Jl. Pangkalan Jati in Limo district where she has temporarily moved with her baby girl, Tia.

According to medical reports, the genitals of her daughter, the first child from her current husband, Eko, have been forcibly entered by a blunt object.

Based on the reports and three months of searching, Salamah brought Sudli, 20, a close friend of Eko, to the police on May 15, who then named him as sole suspect in the rape.

A Depok police report stated that Sudli admitted to raping Tia the first time in late March near a river, some 50 meters from the house of Eko and Salamah in Cinere Kayon, also at Limo.

"All in all, I've done it five times, with my finger and my organ. I'm very sorry," Sudli was quoted in the police report.

The written testimony was different from Salamah's finding. To reporters on Tuesday, the housewife said the first time things went wrong with her baby was on Feb. 27, about 10 days before Eko and Sudli opened a cigarette stall, which they jointly financed together.

"She was bleeding profusely from her genitalia. I was very scared and confused. I took her to the nearby Puskesmas clinic a week later," she said.

After the incident, she added, the girl always shook in pain when Salamah cleaned her.

At the clinic and the Fatmawati Hospital, she was told that it appeared that her daughter had been raped.

Last Saturday, Sudli retracted his statement to the police, saying that he was trapped by the police.

"When I was arrested, the police told me that they would set me free if I confessed to the rape," Sudli told The Jakarta Post.

"I did not rape. I know the law. I know that without my confession, the police have nothing," Sudli said angrily.

He admitted that he often watched XXX-rated VCD movies together with Eko. "But, it's no big deal."

Police said that Sudli once admitted that he raped the child because of the films.

Depok police chief of detectives Capt. Hanafi said he was not worried about Sudli retracting his statements.

"No rapist wants to admit his wrongdoing. We have witnesses, and they are enough to testify in court against Sudli," Hanafi said. (ylt)