Indonesia teacher gets life in prison for rape of 13 students

Bandung, Indonesia

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AFP) – An Indonesian court Tuesday sentenced a teacher to life in prison for the rape of 13 students, in a case that has drawn national attention to sexual abuse in the country’s religious boarding schools.

Bandung district court in West Java found Herry Wirawan guilty of raping 13 female students, all minors, and impregnating at least eight of them.

During the trial, it was revealed he had raped the children — many from poor families attending the school on scholarships — over five years.

The pattern of abuse came to light when the family of a female student reported Wirawan to the police for raping and impregnating their teenage daughter last year.

The revelations have sparked national outrage, with a senior government official saying President Joko Widodo has paid special attention to the case.

This handout photo taken on April 29, 2021 and released by the Indonesian Presidential Palace shows President Joko Widodo (C) meeting families of the KRI Nanggala 402 submarine which sank with 53 crew on board, at a ceremony in Surabaya. (Photo by INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE / AFP)

Wirawan, 36, arrived in court in handcuffs and kept his head down as judge Yohannes Purnomo Suryo Adi sentenced him to life in prison.

He had asked the judge for leniency to allow him to raise his children.

The court also said restitution for victims will be paid by the government.

Indonesian orphans and children from poor families wait in a queue before being handed a cash gift envelope by the head (not pictured) of the Islamic boarding school, locally known as Pesantren, in Jakarta on August 19, 2012, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Muslim devotees in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, celebrate Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with traditional day-long family festivities and feasting. AFP PHOTO / ROMEO GACAD (Photo by ROMEO GACAD / AFP)

More than 25,000 Islamic boarding schools — known as “pesantren” — are dotted across Indonesia, with nearly five million students living and studying in the dorms.

Teaching is often regimented — students attend regular classes during the day and continue Koranic studies and Islamic teachings into the evening.

The Bandung rape case has shone a spotlight on the problem of sexual abuse in the schools, with 14 out of the 18 cases reported to the National Child Protection Commission last year taking place in pesantren.

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