Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – A controversial proposal to conduct virginity tests on female high school students in Indramayu regency, West Java, has been dropped following strong objections from students, parents and activists.

They said the plan violated human rights and constituted harassment against women.

Indramayu Regent Irianto MS Syafiuddin came up with the idea last week after two high school students were caught having sex on video. The video, which runs for around three minutes, involves a 16-year-old female student and 17-year-old male student, both from state run senior high schools in the regency.

"We can't accept this idea. It's unfair as the porn video was just an isolated case. It's the same as suspecting all of us. The idea is harassment," said Gita, a second year student at the state SMAN Sindang high school.

Objections were also voiced by male students. Fahmi, a third year student at SMAN Indramayu, said the idea was unethical. "We also reject the virginity test. It's against human rights," he argued.

He said the regent should focus on what was important, instead of coming up with nonsensical suggestions like the virginity test. "There are many poor residents in Indramayu in need of attention. It would be better for the regent to pay heed to them instead of coming up with this plan for virginity tests," Fahmi said.

Parents were shocked by the plan. Yeni, a 44-year-old resident of Margadadi village in Indramayu village, said she would refuse outright if her daughter was required to undergo such a test. "The test undermines female dignity. It should be rejected out of hand," she said.

Wawan of Sindang village said the test was not a solution for dealing with suspected promiscuity among students. "The plan is painful for parents. It's like we're being accused of not taking care of our children," he said.

Teacher Saptarini of SMAN Sindang said the question of virginity had nothing to do with education. "It's a personal matter that has no bearing on education. The regent should drop the plan," she said.

Indramayu Health Agency Director Suwardi said his agency had not received any instructions from the regent regarding the conducting of tests. "I would not do it unless there is an order from the regent," he said.

However, he said it would not be easy to conduct such tests as out of some 16,000 senior high school students in the regency, half were female students. The regency has 78 senior high schools, of which 46 are state schools.