Policeman gets teacher arrested for allegedly slapping son

Abdul Khalik and Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A high school teacher in North Jakarta, detained last Friday for allegedly slapping the son of a police officer from the National Police Headquarters, was finally released on Tuesday.

Chairman of the City Council's Commission E for health, education and the people's welfare, Dani Anwar, said on Tuesday that the detention of Sutarman was sparked by an incident on May 9 when 30 students of SMP 143 were punished for arriving late for a flag-raising ceremony at the school.

Citing Sutarman's testimony, Dani said during the ceremony, Sutarman came to each of the 30 students and pressed his fist against the cheek of each student.

One of the students, the son of a police officer, later shouted "dog" at a female teacher passing near the students.

The female teacher began to cry and ran into a consultation room. Sutarman, who heard about the incident, summoned the student, who was not identified, for questioning.

"Sutarman said the student was only interrogated in the room," Dani told the Post.

The parents of the student became angry when their son said he had a stomachache last Wednesday. They had accused Sutarman of slapping the boy, which they said had caused the ailment.

Sutarman was first summoned to the North Jakarta subprecinct last Thursday and was detained last Friday at the North Jakarta police precinct.

A police source at the National Police Headquarters confirmed on Tuesday that a middle-ranking officer from the headquarters identified as Adj. Sr. Comr. S had asked the North Jakarta precinct to detain Sutarman after hearing that his son had been slapped by the teacher.

"He called the precinct to help him detain the teacher. Feeling that the police should help each other, officers in the precinct detained Sutarman," he told The Jakarta Post.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said police officers had the right to name any person a suspect and detain them.

"I am sure police there had enough evidence to detain Sutarman," he told the Post.

Sutarman could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.