Police arrest 21 women for prostitution on raid

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: The Banyumas Police arrested 21 female guests, three of them university students, on Friday night at a hotel in the tourist resort of Baturaden.

The police also rounded up their male partners during what was described as a "Ramadhan raid".

Adj. Comr. Zainal Abidin, the head of the intelligence section of the Banyumas Police, said that the women were arrested on suspicion of prostitution.

"The three students are law and economics students. What we cannot understand is why highly educated people should get involved in such activity," said Zainal on Saturday.

The three students, from the General Soedirman University, gave similar reasons for their presence at the hotel. One said she was already engaged to her boyfriend, another said she just wanted to have a good time with her boyfriend as they were to be married after Idul Fitri anyway, while the third explained that she had already exchanged marriage vows with her boyfriend, but they had not been formally married yet.

The raid was conducted following a warning from the local administration that "immoral" activities were to be halted during the holy month of Ramadhan. Local red-light areas are now quiet but it is suspected that much of the action has simply moved to hotels.

The 21 women were given a choice of paying a Rp 75,000 (US$9) fine or spending a week in jail. One of the women chose jail as she could not afford the fine. -- JP