Teenager charged with raping

JAKARTA (JP): Defendant Muhammad Hasanudin, 18, kept his head down on Tuesday when prosecutor Samadi charged him with raping a four-year-old girl in a room of the vacant flood control office in Kebon Melati subdistrict, Central Jakarta.

"The defendant raped a helpless small girl in the prayer room (of the office). The victim had resisted and had tried to run away, only to be held down again by this defendant," Samadi told a hearing at the Central Jakarta district court, presided over by Judge Sri Endang Sumiarsih.

According to Samadi, Hasanudin, a casual worker, has violated Paragraph 2 of Article 290 of the Indonesian Criminal Code on pedophilia.

The law states that someone proven guilty of raping a minor (under 15 years of age) can be sentenced to a maximum punishment of seven years in prison.

Samadi said that it was at about 11 a.m. of April 25 this year when Hasanuddin caught sight of the little girl, who was wandering around the Kopro Banjir office on Jl. Talang Betutu Ujung in Kebon Melati, Tanah Abang district.

"He first told the victim that they were going to pick mangoes, when he suddenly directed her to the room of the empty Kopro Banjir office," the prosecutor said.

In the room, Hasanudin laid her flat on the ground and tried to molest the girl, Samadi charged.

He added that the incident was unknown to the victim's parents until the victim started having pains while relieving herself.

When later questioned by her parents, the victim finally revealed the truth and her parents immediately reported the case to the police, Samadi said.

The hearing would be continued next Tuesday. (ylt)