Police send 25 women to Social Services

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-five women were turned over to the Social Services office over the weekend, after one night in police detention.

A police officer at the Central Jakarta Police precinct said the 25 women, eight of them prostitutes from among the 95 couples rounded up in crackdowns at hotels in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, on Friday, had to be taken to the Social Services office because they had no identification cards.

"They will be processed at the social services in line with standard procedures," said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous.

The police netted the 95 couples at six hotels, including Sudi Mampir, Djati and Jawa Sumatra, all in Tanah Abang.

Three recent allegations of rape at those hotels prompted the crackdown.

A 14-year schoolgirl was reportedly raped by a sports teacher and a police corporal at Hotel Sudi Mampir on May 10. The police said no rape took place.

The second rape reportedly took place at Djati Hotel. A shop attendant reported sexual assault by a man believed to be a psychic on May 17.

On May 20, a man allegedly raped a maid at Hotel Jawa Sumatra, before stealing a bag containing clothes and a necklace.

Among those arrested on Friday were a secretarial academy student and a private university student, who said they planned to be married soon. They were picked up at the Hotel Jawa Sumatra.

The unmarried couple seemed to be in shock in police custody.

"I don't want to be apart from him," the young woman cried when the police took her to a Social Services' car. She then fainted.

The woman said she and her boyfriend had been in love for two years.

"Our parents disagree to our relationship because our families are of different religions," the young man told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The young man, a resident of Central Jakarta, said that he and his girlfriend are neighbors.

He admitted to having slept with her at the hotel twice. "We plan to elope if our parents still oppose us," he added.

The police also netted a high school girl and the man with her during Friday's crackdown. They were released after a woman claiming to be the man's wife came looking for him at the police precinct.

"They have shown us their identification cards," an officer said over the weekend. (jun)