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.