Taufik Hidayat Faces 36 Years in Prison Under Multiple Charges Including Sexual Assault

The Directorate of General Criminal Investigation and the Directorate of Protection of Women and Children of the West Java Regional Police have conducted a reconstruction and case review regarding the abuse and confinement of YTR (29) by her boyfriend, Taufik Hidayat (30). Police have charged Taufik Hidayat with three layered articles, carrying a total potential prison sentence of decades. Furthermore, in this incident, YTR was proven to be a victim of sexual violence. Head of Public Relations of the West Java Regional Police, Commissioner Hendra Rochmawan, stated that in applying the articles, his party has constructed two legal charges, the first being Article 451 concerning hostage-taking. “The first legal construction we have applied is Article 451, concerning hostage-taking, which carries a maximum penalty of 12 years,” Hendra said at the West Java Regional Police Headquarters, as reported by detikJabar on Monday. He then mentioned the second legal construction, Article 469 paragraph 1, concerning premeditated grievous bodily harm. “Here we emphasise the element of the article, namely planned hostage-taking. So we added the element of planning, with the hope of maximising the threat to 12 years in prison,” he explained. Hendra stated that his party also added a new legal construction regarding Article 6 of Law Number 12 of 2002, which concerns the Criminal Act of Sexual Violence. Therefore, the police are currently charging Taufik Hidayat with three layered articles. Hendra explained that overall, when accumulated, these legal constructions carry sentences of 5 years, 8 years, 9 years, and 12 years. “We are maximising it to 12 years. So if we simulate that these legal constructions are cumulative, that means 12 times 3, which equals 36 years in prison,” he said.