"Children need to be educated on which body parts may and may not be touched by others. Parents must also remain aware of the threat of sexual violence that can attack their children by ensuring that the environment where children live is safe from various threats," Deputy for Child Protection at the ministry Nahar said in a press release received here on Monday.
He issued the statement in response to a sexual abuse case involving a child in Gresik, East Java.
Obscene acts against children are a form of sexual violence, he said.
"This incident is also a form of indecent act because there was an act in which the victim was touched sexually. If you force a child to touch the perpetrator sexually, according to Article 76E of Law 35 of 2014, that's (considered an) obscene act," he added.
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He called for the perpetrator in the Gresik incident to be sanctioned if found guilty.
If the perpetrator’s actions meet the criteria listed in Article 76E of Law Number 35 of 2014, he would be sanctioned in accordance with Article 82 of Law Number 17 of 2016, which prescribes a prison sentence of 5–15 years or a maximum fine of Rp 5 billion.
CCTV footage showing the alleged abuse has been circulated on social media.
In the video, which is 1 minute and 58 seconds long, a man in a white shirt can be seen grabbing the hand of a girl in a brown veil in front of a grocery store in Mriyunan Village, Sidayu Sub-district, Gresik. The perpetrator looks around and asks the child to sit beside him, kisses the child repeatedly, and then leaves.
Gresik Police have arrested the man in the video, identified as Buchori (39), in Kenjeran, Surabaya.
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Translator: Anita P D, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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