Violence against Children

The formulation of Criminal Acts of Violence is also regulated outside the provisions of the Criminal Code. One of them is the crime of violence against children as referred to in Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning the Second Amendment to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection.

Article 76C of the Law on Child Protection mandates the provision that everyone is prohibited from placing, allowing, committing, ordering to commit, or participating in Violence against Children. The threat of criminal sanctions is contained in Article 80 paragraph (1), namely imprisonment for a maximum of 3 (three) years and 6 (six) months and/or a fine of a maximum of IDR 72,000,000.00 (seventy-two million rupiah).

One of the criminal events of violence against children occurred in the legal area of the Sidenreng Rappang District Court, South Sulawesi Province, where JR was the perpetrator and RAS was the victim.

In essence, this case began when the perpetrator JR and RAS had an argument/dispute with harsh words through social media Instagram. The perpetrator JR, who is domiciled in the City of Makassar, then refused to accept it and decided to visit the victim RAS who lived in a boarding house in Sidrap Regency.

Based on the facts revealed in the trial, the perpetrator JR was proven to have committed a criminal act of violence/persecution against the victim RAS in the form of beatings, hair pulling, and kicking. As a result of the violence against children committed by the perpetrator JR, the victim RAS suffered injuries due to blunt trauma as explained in the Visum Et Repertum of Nene Mallomo Regional General Hospital.

At the first level trial, the Public Prosecutor charged the perpetrator JR with an alternative indictment, namely violence against children as referred to in Article 80 paragraph (1) jo. Article 76C of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 35 of 2014 concerning the Second Amendment to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection or ordinary persecution as referred to in Article 351 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

The Panel of Judges of the Sidenreng Rappang District Court through Decision Number: 103/Pid.B/2023/PN.Sdr dated June 21, 2023, believed that the actions of the perpetrator JR were persecution as referred to in Article 351 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code. According to the Panel of Judges, when the crime occurred, the victim RAS was still 16 years old, but it was known that the victim RAS had been married for 3 (three) months even though she had been divorced, so the victim RAS was no longer qualified as a child.