11-6-2024 (JAKARTA) Two harrowing videos depicting the unthinkable – children being sexually abused by their own mothers – have sent shockwaves across Indonesia, igniting a firestorm of outrage among netizens while casting a searing spotlight on the insidious scourge of sextortion plaguing the nation.
The videos, although filmed in 2023, only recently went viral on social media platforms like X and TikTok, sparking a nationwide furor and prompting swift action from authorities. In a grim turn of events, two young mothers in their twenties have been arrested, both claiming to be victims of a twisted sextortion scheme.
According to police reports, the women were approached on Facebook by a user named “Icha Khalisa” in 2023, who lured them with promises of payment in exchange for nude photographs. However, the sinister plot took a dark and disturbing turn when the perpetrator allegedly demanded that the mothers record videos of themselves sexually abusing their own children, threatening to circulate their nude photos online if they failed to comply.
One of the victims, identified only as R from South Tangerang, revealed the harrowing details of her ordeal. “Because she felt threatened, R finally committed sexual abuse and did bad things. Then, it was recorded which then went viral,” said Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Police spokesperson Ade Ary Syam Indradi.
R claimed she was coerced into recording herself sexually abusing her five-year-old son in exchange for a promised payment of 15 million rupiah (US$920). Tragically, despite complying with the sickening demand, she never received the promised payment. Instead, a year later, the video surfaced online, igniting a firestorm of outrage.
A similar case unfolded in Bekasi, where another mother, known as AK, was forced to molest her 10-year-old son under the same twisted circumstances. The video was recorded and sent to the same Facebook account in December 2023, only to go viral this month, further compounding the nation’s collective horror.
Both R and AK now face potential charges for violating multiple laws concerning pornography and child protection, with the possibility of up to 12 years in prison if found guilty. While the Indonesian police have traced the “Icha Khalisa” Facebook account to its owner, it appears the account was hacked by an unknown individual who remains at large, further complicating the investigation.
Media reports, quoting experts, have aptly described these horrific cases as instances of sextortion – a form of online blackmail where individuals are coerced into sending explicit content and then threatened with its release unless they comply with further demands.
Alarmingly, a 2020 Global Corruption Barometer report by Transparency International revealed that Indonesia has the highest rate of sextortion in Asia, at a staggering 18 percent – more than twice the Asian average.
Experts warn that this type of sextortion is on the rise in Indonesia and is often orchestrated by large, organized syndicates. The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) suspects a syndicate was behind the two recent cases, further fueling concerns about the growing sophistication and reach of these criminal networks.
Ardi Putra, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, suspects that the two mothers’ ordeals are not isolated incidents but part of a global syndicate network. “We know there is a global phenomenon of many people who have mental problems, who like such content and are willing to pay a lot of money. So there are parties who become brokers and find them, then sell them on adult forums,” Putra warned.
As the nation grapples with the shocking revelations, analysts have highlighted the need for comprehensive legal reform to combat the rising tide of sextortion. Indonesia’s existing laws, they argue, lack specific provisions regulating such crimes, leaving a dangerous gap that
Putra has urged the Indonesian government to study and formulate robust legislation to address sextortion cases, emphasizing the urgency of such measures as technology continues to advance rapidly. “In the future, sexual violence will be multidimensional, with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and victims can be blackmailed with deepfakes,” he cautioned.
