Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutisna criticized his officers on Thursday for failing to solve a spate of schoolgirl rapes over the past two months.
“How is it possible that 1,800 police officers are unable to capture a single perpetrator? They are not using their instincts,” Sutisna said during a visit to State Elementary School 7 in Sumerta, Denpasar. The most recent victim attends the school.
“If police see a man with a school-age child on a motorcycle, stop him. Ask them if they are related to each other,” he said.
His comments came a day after two officers were deployed to patrol every elementary school during class hours.
Sutisna said police must use their instincts when tracking down criminals and not just blindly conduct patrols.
He offered praise to officers in Medan, North Sumatra, who caught suspected terrorists at a checkpoint over the weekend.
He was referring to the arrest of six people on Sunday after officers became suspicious of a van because it was too dirty to have been driven around the city. It had Aceh license plates and the people in the van looked very tired. The officers then noticed one passenger appeared to have been shot in the arm. When police asked the men to get out of the van they tried to flee.
Sutisna said officers had been told they must watch students within one kilometer of schools.
He said descriptions of the suspect included the fact he had a scar on his right cheek.
“The sketch of the suspect has been distributed around,” Sutisna said. “We ask anyone who recognizes him to come forward. We then want to photograph him so we can show the victims for identification.”
Sutisna told the teachers he regretted that some schools had not immediately responded to the rapes, the first of which happened in February.
“There have been at least five cases. The schools should have come to us when the first incident happened,” he said.
A member of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) in Bali said it was holding a signature campaign today in a bid to pressure the police to intensify their efforts.
“We want to ensure that victims of rape are treated appropriately,” coordinator Luh Putu Anggreni said. “One family is being made to pay millions of rupiah to get medical examinations and health care from a hospital,” Luh said.
“How is it possible that 1,800 police officers are unable to capture a single perpetrator? They are not using their instincts,” Sutisna said during a visit to State Elementary School 7 in Sumerta, Denpasar. The most recent victim attends the school.
“If police see a man with a school-age child on a motorcycle, stop him. Ask them if they are related to each other,” he said.
His comments came a day after two officers were deployed to patrol every elementary school during class hours.
Sutisna said police must use their instincts when tracking down criminals and not just blindly conduct patrols.
He offered praise to officers in Medan, North Sumatra, who caught suspected terrorists at a checkpoint over the weekend.
He was referring to the arrest of six people on Sunday after officers became suspicious of a van because it was too dirty to have been driven around the city. It had Aceh license plates and the people in the van looked very tired. The officers then noticed one passenger appeared to have been shot in the arm. When police asked the men to get out of the van they tried to flee.
Sutisna said officers had been told they must watch students within one kilometer of schools.
He said descriptions of the suspect included the fact he had a scar on his right cheek.
“The sketch of the suspect has been distributed around,” Sutisna said. “We ask anyone who recognizes him to come forward. We then want to photograph him so we can show the victims for identification.”
Sutisna told the teachers he regretted that some schools had not immediately responded to the rapes, the first of which happened in February.
“There have been at least five cases. The schools should have come to us when the first incident happened,” he said.
A member of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) in Bali said it was holding a signature campaign today in a bid to pressure the police to intensify their efforts.
“We want to ensure that victims of rape are treated appropriately,” coordinator Luh Putu Anggreni said. “One family is being made to pay millions of rupiah to get medical examinations and health care from a hospital,” Luh said.
