Gov't Considers Castration for a Man Who Raped 12 of His Students

TheIndonesia.id - Indonesian Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection said it would support maximum penalty to owner and teacher of an Islamic boarding school in West Java who raped 12 students between 2016 and 2021.

Deputy for child protection at the Ministry Nahar said the case has the possibility to be processed with Law No. 17/2016, which regulates chemical castration for perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

“We support the ongoing trial and encourage firm and maximum sentencing to the perpetrator who had done unimaginably despicable crime towards children who wanted to get the best education,” Nahar said in a statement on Friday, December 10.

Herry Wirawan, owner and teacher of an Islamic boarding school in Bandung, West Java, raped 12 students who were studying in his pesantren in the span of five year. Four of the victims even gave birth to nine babies.

For his crime, Wirawan is facing potential sentence of more than 5 years of imprisonment.

Nahar said victims have been provided with assistance from women and children protection units in West Java. Psychosocial assistance and rehabilitation are smong the focuses to ensure child victims can return to and reintegrate in their community.

As sexual assault cases very often happen in boarding schools, the Ministry said every stakeholder must work together to prevent any cases from happening again, and this includes the learning institutions itself as well as parents.

“We expect parents to co-monitor their children who study in educational institutions by maintaining intense communication. It’s part of parents’ responsibility to take care of their children, and it shouldn’t be entirely passed to the institutions” Nahar warned.

Lastly, he also reminded schools and other educational institutions to provide orientation to students on how to protect themselves from any abuse and violence and inform them on how to gain access to report any misconduct.