Parents and community groups in Denpasar are breathing a sigh of
relief after police arrested a second suspect in the recent string of rapes
targeting young schoolgirls in the Bali capital.
Police announced on Friday that Salvador da Costa Soares, 28, had confessed to raping a 9-year-old girl at her home on Jalan Pulau Moyo on April 16. They said forensic tests confirmed his story.
However, police also said they had no evidence that the suspect, who was born in East Timor, was responsible for raping five other girls over the past two months.
“We hope to apprehend any other suspects as soon as possible,” Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutisna said.
Salvador, a college student, was arrested on Thursday night by South Denpasar Police at his rented room near the scene of last week’s rape.
Police say the suspect entered the home near Sumerta Elementary School, where the victim is a student, and raped the girl.
The third-grader was home alone at the time of the attack, with both parents working and the maid having gone home earlier due to illness.
Sutisna said police had been able to track down Salvador after recovering a torn scrap of paper at the victim’s house with his cellphone number on it.
The officer added that Salvador moonlighted as a motorcycle taxi driver, ferrying children to and from school.
“We believe it was this that got him interested in young children,” Sutisna said.
The National Police’s forensics laboratory in Denpasar has confirmed that blood and semen samples found at the scene of the crime and on the girl’s underwear belonged to Salvador.
None of the other rape victims, however, has identified him as their attacker.
The rape attributed to Salvador differed from the five previous attacks in that it took place at the victim’s home.
In the earlier rapes, the suspect approached the victims on a motorcycle as they were returning home from school or after-school lessons, and convinced them that their parents had asked him to give them a ride.
The suspect then took the victims to a secluded location and raped them.
On Monday, police announced they had arrested a security guard believed to have raped a 13-year-old girl.
The suspect, I Made Sumarjaya, is alleged to have picked up the student while she was waiting for her parents and taken her to a motel, where the attack took place.
Sutisna stressed that while most of the rapes shared the same modus operandi, there was almost certainly more than one perpetrator.
Salvador has been charged with once count of rape under the 2003 Child Protection Law and could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
However, police also said they had no evidence that the suspect, who was born in East Timor, was responsible for raping five other girls over the past two months.
“We hope to apprehend any other suspects as soon as possible,” Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutisna said.
Salvador, a college student, was arrested on Thursday night by South Denpasar Police at his rented room near the scene of last week’s rape.
Police say the suspect entered the home near Sumerta Elementary School, where the victim is a student, and raped the girl.
The third-grader was home alone at the time of the attack, with both parents working and the maid having gone home earlier due to illness.
Sutisna said police had been able to track down Salvador after recovering a torn scrap of paper at the victim’s house with his cellphone number on it.
The officer added that Salvador moonlighted as a motorcycle taxi driver, ferrying children to and from school.
“We believe it was this that got him interested in young children,” Sutisna said.
The National Police’s forensics laboratory in Denpasar has confirmed that blood and semen samples found at the scene of the crime and on the girl’s underwear belonged to Salvador.
None of the other rape victims, however, has identified him as their attacker.
The rape attributed to Salvador differed from the five previous attacks in that it took place at the victim’s home.
In the earlier rapes, the suspect approached the victims on a motorcycle as they were returning home from school or after-school lessons, and convinced them that their parents had asked him to give them a ride.
The suspect then took the victims to a secluded location and raped them.
On Monday, police announced they had arrested a security guard believed to have raped a 13-year-old girl.
The suspect, I Made Sumarjaya, is alleged to have picked up the student while she was waiting for her parents and taken her to a motel, where the attack took place.
Sutisna stressed that while most of the rapes shared the same modus operandi, there was almost certainly more than one perpetrator.
Salvador has been charged with once count of rape under the 2003 Child Protection Law and could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
