Police Reveal 27 Teen Rapists in Sampang Created WhatsApp Group to Schedule Assaults
The case of the rape of a 15-year-old girl by 27 males in Sampang Regency, Madura, East Java, has uncovered new facts.
Police have revealed that the perpetrators created a WhatsApp group to communicate with one another. The chat group was initiated by the main suspect, identified as AP (15), after he first raped the victim on his own. To facilitate coordination with his friends, AP then created a group on WhatsApp.
“That is where AP created this group. There was a group,” said Sampang Police Chief AKBP Hartono on Thursday (16/7).
The recruitment of members followed a chain pattern. AP invited a friend to take part, and that friend then invited another acquaintance, and so on, causing the circle of perpetrators to keep widening.
Through the group, the perpetrators allegedly arranged schedules to take turns molesting and raping the victim. Police learned this from the testimony of several suspects who have been questioned.
When checked, it was confirmed that a number of perpetrators had already left the group out of fear of being caught. However, the chat history and the confessions of suspects arrested earlier remained leads for investigators to trace the involvement of other perpetrators whose identities are not yet known.
“When one perpetrator was arrested, members left the group one by one,” he said.
This pattern of recruitment caused the number of suspects to keep growing each time police arrested a member of the group, as their confessions frequently pointed to new names involved in the case.
From an initial five individuals, investigators eventually developed their findings to name a total of 27 suspects, with the last perpetrator arrested while on a bus heading to Surabaya.
Furthermore, police have confirmed that the mastermind behind the rape case is AP. The 15-year-old boy is suspected of inviting the other perpetrators to molest and rape the victim.
“That’s right, AP was the first,” said the Head of Public Relations at Sampang Police, AKP Eko Puji Waluyo.
Eko stated that the victim and AP knew each other previously. At some point in February 2026, the victim met AP and the suspects’ friends.
Previously, Sampang Police in Madura, East Java, uncovered a case of alleged rape and sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl, allegedly committed by 27 people.
Sampang Police Chief AKBP Hartono revealed that the incidents occurred between February and May 2026 at three different locations: Panggung Village in Sampang District, Astapah Village in Omben District, and Madupat Village in Camplong District.
To date, police have arrested 13 of the 27 people allegedly involved, namely AR (17), MH (17), MA (15), AP (15), D (16), MR (17), R (42), MHA (13), MFS (13), AS (14), F (25), AP (15), and W (17).
The suspects are charged under Article 473 paragraph (2) letter b of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Law Number 1 of 2026 on Criminal Sentencing Adjustments, in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Law Number 11 of 2012 on the Juvenile Criminal Justice System, carrying a maximum sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.