Religious Teacher in Kediri Abuses Minors; Ten Victims Identified

As reported by detikJatim, the perpetrator was apprehended on Saturday evening (16th May) in Ngadiluwih district, Kediri. The arrest was met with tension as dozens of residents gathered and attempted to block the police vehicle, expressing their anger towards the suspect.

The depraved actions of the middle-aged man, a retired teacher, were revealed after one of the children spoke about it at home, which was overheard by their parents.

The head of the local village, Desi Putri, explained that following this conversation, the parents began questioning other children in the neighbourhood, eventually leading to similar confessions. “Initially, one child spoke up at home, and after further questioning, it turned out that other children had experienced similar incidents. We initially intended to invite him for a discussion, but he did not attend. Given the situation in the village, we decided to escalate the matter directly,” Desi Putri told detikJatim on Sunday (17th May 2026).

The perpetrator exploited the innocence of his students, with one incident occurring during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. While the children were resting in the mosque area, the perpetrator called them individually to enter a storage room at the back. In this isolated location, the perpetrator forced the victims to witness indecent acts and then gave them Rp 50,000 as hush money.

According to Murjito, the head of the local neighbourhood association, the initial report involved only four children, but the number continued to increase as the case unfolded. “Initially, four children reported it. After that, the number increased to around ten. The victims are mostly young children, with the oldest being in the first year of junior high school,” Murjito explained.