Rapes continue without preventative action

Rapes continue without preventative action

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 10/15/2011 7:34 AM

Another rape involving an illegal public minivan (angkot) driver has been reported directly on the heels of the Jakarta administration’s attempts to crackdown on minivans with tinted windows in an effort to prevent other instances of sexual assault.

While working as a babysitter, a 38-year-old woman from Rawagabus, Karawang, West Java, said that she was raped by a man who had apparently been driving a public minivan on Oct. 8.

East Jakarta Police spokesperson Comr. Didik Hariyadi said that the victim, identified as Ha, was waiting for an angkot in front of Pondok Gede market at around 10 p.m. to stop by her employer’s house after visiting a relative.

Ha spotted an M28 plying the Pondok Gede–Kampung Melayu route driven by Edi Sitorus.

After arriving at the Kampung Melayu bus station, Edi promised to take Ha home after returning the minivan to its authorized driver near Pondok Gede market.

Later, instead of taking Ha home, he took her to Garuda park in Pinang Ranti, Makassar, East Jakarta, across from Tamini Square.

According to Ha, Edi raped her and took her cellphone and Rp 50,000 (US$5.65).

Makassar Police crime unit chief Comm. Adj. Ujang Rohanda said that Edi was arrested by the police on Thursday after Ha, who had his telephone number, called him and promised to give him Rp 300,000.

Edi denied the rape allegations in a written statement submitted to the police. He said that the sexual conduct was consensual.

“I did not force her,” he wrote as reported by kompas.com.

He denied the allegations, saying “We had dinner afterwards. I promised her I would marry her,” he said.

Ha also contested Edi’s statements, explaining that she was traumatized.

Last month, a university student was gang-raped and killed in an M24 minivan serving the Slipi-Srengseng route.

The incident was soon followed by the gang-rape of another female passenger in a minivan on Jl. TB Simatupang in South Jakarta.

The two cases prompted the Jakarta administration to crack down on public minivans with tinted windows. The move was criticized as reactive and did not address the root of the problem, namely mismanagement within the public transportation system.

Earlier this month, another student, N.P. jumped out of a speeding minivan when the driver refused to allow her to disembark. She suffered a concussion as well as cuts and bruises.

Vitria Lazzarini of the Pulih Foundation Trauma and Rehabilitation Center voiced concern, saying that measures to crack down on certain public minivans could not necessarily guarantee prevention of other accidents.

“The raids were conducted only temporarily. They are not doing this every day. What they should do is reach the source of the ‘fire’, including inconsistent law enforcement measures.

“There should be zero tolerance for violence against women,” Vitria told The Jakarta Post. (swd)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/15/rapes-continue-without-preventative-action.html