Alleged serial rapist Mochammad Davis Suharto, 30,
after his arrest in Kuta early on Sunday.
An alleged serial rapist was arrested on Sunday in connection with attacks on four underage girls in Bali, but also confessed to six other rapes on Batam Island, police said.
Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutisna said Mochammad Davis Suharto, 30, from Trenggalek in East Java, was arrested in Kuta early on Sunday morning after he was spotted by a police detective who recognized the man from a police sketch, which included a distinctive scar on his right cheek.
Sutisna said First Brig. I Ketut Subarjo gave chase and arrested Davis on Jalan Pantai Kuta. He said that after his arrest, Davis had confessed to raping four elementary school girls in Monang Maning and Sumerta villages in Denpasar.
Sutisna said the victims had all positively identified their attacker. The first of the girls to be introduced to Davis passed out after seeing his face, resulting in subsequent victims being asked to make the identification through a window.
Police say Davis, who is married and has a child, also confessed to raping six other girls when he was living in Batam.
“Davis committed the same crimes in Batam in 2003. We have coordinated with Riau Police and found out that the East Java-born man is also a fugitive in six rape cases in Batam,” Sutisna said.
Police confiscated a range of pornographic material from his home, including some stored on a laptop, and the motorcycle that he allegedly used to kidnap the victims after he tricked them into believing that he had been sent by their parents to pick them up.
Davis had been living in Bali for six months and worked as a masseuse, servicing clients in his rented room on Jalan Kapten Regog in West Denpasar.
Sutisna said Davis had three different identity cards under the names of Mochamad Davis Suharto, Mochammad Suharto and Dicky Saputra.
He said that Davis had told police that he had received “magical whispers” ordering him to commit the attacks, which had shaken the resort island and embarrassed the police force.
“He said he heard a magical whisper ordering him to rape little girls after a traffic accident he had a few years ago, but we don’t believe him,” Sutisna said.
Sustisna said Subarjo would receive an award for catching the alleged rapist, who faces a maximum of 15 years in jail.
Anak Agung Sri Wahyuni, chairman of the Bali office of the Indonesian Children Protection Commission, thanked police for catching Davis.
“It proves that the Denpasar Police chief has kept his promise,” she said.
Ni Nyoman Sri Widhiyanti, coordinator of the Movement of Mothers Who Care for Rape Victims, expressed similar sentiments but warned that the arrest did not mean similar crimes could not happen again.
“We have to remain alert and give attention to the rape victims,” she said.
