Police send 25 women to Social Services
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)