Rapists in our midst

Rapists in our midst

The constant flow of horrendous reports from our restive
provinces might lead foreign observers of Indonesia to consider
violence as our trademark. But to locals, the news from the
provinces is only part of the horror, for now we are being
confronted with the victimization of women.

Last weekend, we were shocked by the brutal rape and robbery
of a 23-year-old woman passenger by a taxi driver and an
accomplice. The tragedy took place on Friday in the taxi, which
first searched for prey on the streets of the capital city, ...
not in Lombok or Ambon.

The robbery of passengers by taxi drivers and their
accomplices in this sprawling city is no longer big news. In 1997
when the economic crisis hit the country, the trend significantly
increased and become so commonplace that individual cases often
did not make the news at all. But this time the suspects
apparently used a new technique in committing the crime.

One alleged accomplice hid in the taxi's trunk for two hours
before they picked up a woman passenger. He later crawled through
to the backseat, where the passenger was sitting. The suspects
told the police later that the car had been modified to allow
passage from the trunk to the backseat. At a deserted corner of
the city, the driver and his accomplice reportedly took turns to
rape the woman. With the help of another man they later allegedly
used her ATM card to withdraw money from her bank account.

Although it is the city administration that issues the
licenses for taxis to operate, no party is being held responsible
for the outrage. The only good thing about the incident is that
it took the police only 12 hours to identify and apprehend the
suspects.

Although data says that three women are raped every day in
this country, the sort of brutality applied in the taxi rape is
quite rare. Four years ago, a maid was raped by city public order
officers involved in a crackdown on prostitutes. Despite
repeatedly claiming that she had a decent job and was not a
prostitute, she was raped in full view of many officers behind
the public order office on Jl. Abdul Muis, not far from City
Hall. The cold-blooded attack of the innocent woman became even
more heinous when, before forcing himself on her, the rapist
asked whether any of his colleagues wanted to be the first to
violate her.

When the rapist got off lightly it appeared that the official
line was that it was acceptable to degrade and violate women.

Last week's tragedy was made possible by a lack of
supervision, first by the Jakarta city administration in
overseeing taxi services here, and by the managements of taxi
companies in overseeing their vehicles. They are only concerned
with whether their drivers pay the daily taxi rental and pay very
little attention to the taxi's condition and fixtures and the use
of equipment, such as radio communication.

Taxi companies with bad reputations have been able to
camouflage their identity by changing the color of their taxis to
that of a highly respected company, a move the city authorities
have made no move to condemn. This official indifference should
stop, especially now that members of the public have even more
reason to be fearful that they will hail the wrong taxi. Perhaps
Jakarta Governor Sutyoso would be happy to see all taxis painted
blue. To deter criminals from victimizing more passengers the
authorities should also bar taxis from tinting their windows.

It is also high time the authorities supplied public
transportation companies with trustworthy, honest drivers. Most
important of all, the city administration should set up an
independent supervisory body to monitor the operation of all
taxis here.

Last but not least, there should be more of a deterrent for
rape. From a rapist's point of view, rape might be not a serious
crime, especially when one can easily escape justice or is able
to feel there is very little to lose if convicted because jail
terms handed down in rape cases are extremely lenient, as many
legal people have lamented.

Calls for harsher punishment for convicted rapists have
resurfaced since last week, with State Minister of the
Empowerment of Women Khofifah Indar Parawansa joining the chorus.
With our judges being known for their lack of seriousness when
hearing rape cases, there is little the public can expect them to
do in revamping the law on rape. The House of Representatives has
repeatedly been called on to take the initiative to increase the
punishment for rape, and introduce a minimum jail term for
convicted rapists and the death sentence for repeat offenders,
rapists of minors and gang rape involving robbery.