Police deny rape and abduction reports

Police deny rape and abduction reports

JAKARTA (JP): Police denied reports about the abduction and
rape of a 17-year-old housemaid were true, saying the girl had
willingly gone with her boy friend.

North Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Rismawan said yesterday
that Las, a housemaid for the Kamaludin family in Kelapa Gading,
North Jakarta, admitted she had not been abducted and raped by
two unidentified persons.

Rismawan said in an interview with Kompas that the maid's
boyfriend, Eko, had visited her on Jan. 25 and asked her to go
for a walk.

Eko took her to a boarding house in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta,
where she was 'detained' until she escaped on Feb. 6.

"She said she has never been raped. Medical examinations
support her admission," the officer said.

Quoting Las, Rismawan said Eko was accompanied by a woman,
identified only as TI. "But no one knows who the 31-year-old
woman was or what her role was in the drama."

Las said she escaped at 4 a.m. Feb. 6, when Eko and TI were
sleeping after a heavy drinking session. "She stole the door key
from Eko's trousers and escaped without any money." Her Rp 60,000
was given to Eko during the three-weeks in captivity, said
Rismawan.

Police assume Eko told Las to lie about what had happened. But
the motive for this has yet to be determined.

The victim, who has worked for the Kamaludins since 1955, had
told police two unidentified men dragged her into a car on Jan.
21.

She said she was taken to a shanty house in Pasar Rebo, where
her abductors tied her up and gagged her.

"I don't know who they are," she said, reported Pos Kota
Thursday.

"I vaguely remember one of the kidnappers raping me three
times. I could have been given sleeping pills before he raped me.
I don't know," she said.

She said she had been closely watched until Tuesday evening
(Feb. 11) when she escaped.

The police sent her to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital
for a medical examination. The hospital declared she had not been
raped. This had puzzled police until she finally told the truth.
(sur/04)