Six Unesa students suspended over alleged verbal abuse
Surabaya State University (Unesa) has suspended six students suspected of committing verbal abuse from all campus activities to support the investigation being carried out by the Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Violence (Satgas PPK).
“The reported students are suspended from all academic activities, except for matters related to fulfilling the obligations of this case examination. This is not the final sanction, but part of the handling procedure,” said the Head of Unesa’s Satgas PPK, Iman Pasu Marganda Hadiarto Purba, in Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday.
He explained that the case originated from a report concerning a history of unethical conversations in a WhatsApp Group (WAG) involving six vocational programme students. The conversation contained messages that objectified a number of female students and lecturers, and it circulated widely before being officially reported to the Satgas PPK.
“The case is verbal abuse that occurred in the form of group chat messages from the students in question, containing unethical messages about their friends and also several lecturers,” said Iman.
He outlined the strict mechanism for handling the case, which includes receiving the report, reviewing the case, collecting evidence, examining the reported students and witnesses, providing victim support, summoning parents, compiling conclusions and recommendations, and determining sanctions by the rector.
Preliminary examination results indicate that the alleged case involves six reported students with 26 alleged victims, consisting of female students and four lecturers. The task force is continuing to deepen the case by examining witnesses and collecting additional evidence from the extensive chat history.
“We are still conducting an in-depth investigation, examining witnesses, and collecting additional evidence from the long and numerous group chat histories to map out this case completely, objectively, and fairly,” said Iman.
“In addition to focusing on case handling, victim support is our priority. The task force team is providing psychological assistance, ensuring the smooth running of their academic support, and preparing legal aid if needed,” he added.
He urged the academic community and the public who are aware of alleged violence within the campus environment to report it through the official Satgas PPK service, either directly at the task force office or through the provided online channels. Furthermore, Unesa requested that the public not disseminate screenshots of the conversations, the identities of the victims, or unverified information in order to protect the victims from psychological, social, and digital impacts.