INDONESIA CONTEMPLATING SEVERE PUNISHMENT PLUS CHIP IMPLANT FOR SEXUAL OFFENDERS by Fardah

Jakarta, May 13, 2016 (Antara)- The news of a 14-year-old girl Yuyun, who was gang raped and murdered in Bengkulu Province, was followed by similar horrific incidents being reported from various regions in Indonesia.

         Many of the sex crimes had initially been ignored or almost forgotten, but information about them has surfaced due to public outcry following Yuyun's case.

         The gang rape and murder of the eighth grader took place in Bengkulu village on April 2 as 14 men aged between 16 and 23 years abducted the girl while she was heading home from school.

          The schoolgirl's bound body was found two days later in a ravine in a rubber plantation. Yuyun is believed to have died while being raped by the accused, who were said to be in an inebriated state.

          In East Lampung District, Lampung, a 10-year-old girl identified by the initials MS was gang raped and strangled to death by two men in an empty hut away from her home, on April 14, this year, though some reports claim that 10 men were part of the crime.

          MS's body was found in the hut on April 17 after her parents had reported her missing.

          Local activist Edi Persada posted the story about MS' tragic death on his Facebook page recently, expressing regret that the crime did not receive the attention of the authorities nor the community, and the accused were still at large.

           He said Lampung had a high rate of sex-related crimes. Since 2015, there have been tens of cases.

            "Ironically, none of the perpetrators were arrested," Edi was quoted as saying by local media.

          In October 2012, eight-year-old Im was found dead in some bushes in South Lampung, with stab wounds to her stomach.

         The Lampung authorities later arrested five men aged between 17 to 25 years who had raped the small girl. 
     In Sulawesi, 19-year-old F was drugged and raped by 15 men in North Sulawesi and later again by four men in Gorontalo in January 2016. Two of the four men were allegedly police officers.

          The local media had repeatedly reported the crime, but the response from law enforcers and the community had been poor.

           A legal process is now underway after Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa visited Gorontalo and demanded that those involved in sexual crimes should be punished in accordance with the existing laws.

          In Surabaya, East Java, a 13-year-old girl had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by eight boys aged between nine and 14 years, and the victim was facing this ordeal since she was nine.

          In response to questions posed by Surabaya Mayor Risma, the boys, the victim's neighbors, said they had often watched pornographic content on websites at nearby rental Internet stalls.

          Such crimes might just be the tip of the iceberg as many more cases went unreported or were ignored in various regions of the country. 
     According to data of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, some 35 Indonesian women suffer from sexual violence daily.

           In a limited cabinet meeting on May 11, President Joko Widodo revealed a plan to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on sexual violence against children.

          The Perppu will impose maximum sentences of 20 years in prison plus additional stringent punishments of chemical castration and chip implants, as well exposing the identities of the perpetrators.

          The president said sex offenses against children and women are extraordinary crimes that need extraordinary handling too.

          "The Perppu will be issued soon. It is the commitment of the president, who believes that sexual violence is an extraordinary crime, and the punishment should act as a deterrent," Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani noted.

          The draft of the Perppu will be tabled in Parliament for deliberation soon. The Perppu will be issued instead of a new law since it takes a longer time to pass a law.

          Chief of the Indonesian Police General Badrodin Haiti has express his readiness to back the government's plan to implant chips inside the bodies of sex offenders to help track their movements.

         Several countries have already implemented the chip implant scheme, he noted on May 12.

         "So, we could monitor wherever they go. If they are about to commit actions that could endanger the children, the officers will immediately respond to it," the general stated.

          In the meantime, Reni Marlinawati, a member of Commission X of the House of Representatives, said Indonesia is in a state of emergency following a spurt in sexual crimes.

         "The state should seriously respond to sexual crimes that have occurred lately," the legislator, who is deputy chairperson of the United Development Party (PPP), stated on May 11.

          Sexual assaults against children and women are crimes that have wide-ranging impacts on the victims, she pointed out.

          "The state must give out a clear signal concerning such crimes as Indonesia is indeed in a state of emergency with regard to sexual crimes," she emphasized.

          The legislator has expressed support to President Widodo's plan to issue a Government Regulation en lieu of Law (Perppu).

          Marlinawati has vowed to push for awarding punishments as harsh as death sentences to sexual offenders.

          The Parliament and government are currently holding deliberations on the Bill on Alcoholic Beverage Restriction.

          The lawmaker pointed out that most sexual offenders were found to be in an inebriated state while committing sexual crimes.

          Moreover, several of them had admitted to frequently accessing pornographic content. Narcotics are also believed to have triggered such crimes.

          PPP, as the initiator of the Bill on Alcoholic Beverage Restriction, will push for the passage of the bill into law as soon as possible, she affirmed.

          She called on parents and the community, in general, to help protect children and instill good morals in their children and teenagers.     ***2***
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(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/F. Assegaf) 13-05-2016 13:10:39