An Islamic instructor who raped 13 girls at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia was sentenced to life in prison.
After prosecutors filed an appeal, the Islamic teacher who was originally sentenced to life in prison now faces the death penalty.
Herry Wirawan, who was sentenced to life in prison in February after sexually grooming 13 girls between the ages of 12 and 16 and impregnating at least nine of his victims, was sentenced to life in prison, but prosecutors who sought the death penalty filed an appeal.
‘(We) hereby punish the defendant with the death penalty,’ the judge said in a statement on Monday posted on the Bandung High Court’s website.
Herry’s lawyer, Ira Mambo, declined to comment on whether an appeal would be filed, citing the need to see the whole court judgement.
Before reacting, a representative for the local prosecutor’s office said the office will wait for the final verdict.
Herry sexually groomed 13 girls between the ages of 12 and 16 between 2016 and 2021, and pregnant eight of his victims, according to a judge in February.
Officials in Indonesia, including the country’s minister of child safety, have backed calls for the death sentence, despite the fact that the country’s human rights commission, which opposes the death penalty, has declared it is not appropriate.
Wirawan was handcuffed and sat with his head bowed as the judge handed down his sentence. The government will pay restitution to the victims, according to the court.
While the chairman of Indonesia’s Child Protection Commission said the initial verdict meant ‘justice for the victims has been served,’ a family member of one of the victims told the AFP news agency that he was’very disappointed’ that Wirawan did not receive a harsher sentence, warning that leniency would embolden other abusers.
‘This wound will never be healed as long as we live, maybe until we die. The pain we are feeling is indescribable. We don’t feel heard,’ said Hidmat Dijaya, an uncle of one of the 13 victims.
‘If the sentence is lenient like this, there will be more Islamic teachers who will abuse children,’ he added.
‘We will let God as the highest judge punish him. We can only pray because those judges failed to represent our hurt and pain.’
Dedeh Marlina, a 42-year-old housewife who lives near Herry’s school, said she was relieved that the offender had been apprehended, but that the damage had already been done.
‘I know most of them came from poor families in remote areas…unfortunately they are now carrying the burden of what happened,’ she said.
Many of the victims did not report their rapes for fear of having to relive the painful experience, according to officials, and their parents had trusted that the boarding school was guiding their children to become decent and holy individuals.
Wirawan’s victims had also sustained injuries as a result of the rapes.
When the parents of a victim went to the authorities after their daughter returned home on vacation and claimed she had recently given birth, West Java police began investigating the case and arrested Wirawan in May.
The judges also decided that nine of the victims’ children should be given over to the Children and Women Protection Agency for evaluation ‘until the victims are mentally ready to care for their children, and the situation allows for their children to be returned to the victims.’
The number of rapes and the length of time they occurred sparked public outrage.
Indonesia contains tens of thousands of Islamic boarding schools and other religious schools, making it the world’s largest Muslim majority country.
Currently it seems like Movable Type is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Im not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later. Cheers
It’s wonderful that you are getting ideas from this piece of writing as well as from our discussion made at this place.