Ezra Sihite & Carla Isati Octama – Women's Empowerment Minister Linda Agum Gumelar lashed out at the notion that a string of rapes committed against women on or waiting for public transportation was because they were dressed provocatively.

"I met with two rape victims and they weren't dressed suggestively," she said on Tuesday. "So don't blame these women as if they were the ones who had flirted and attracted the men." She said her office was concerned about the cases and called on the police to resolve them thoroughly.

"I hope the police can catch the perpetrators as soon as possible and punish them to the fullest extent of the law," Linda said. "Don't let the case prompt a massive outcry only to die down later on. That's why I'm checking on these cases to see how they're progressing, whether they've gone to court."

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has demanded that the authorities act decisively, and called for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene personally given the gravity of the matter.

Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of the commission, said Yudhoyono should coordinate with the police and Transportation Ministry to ensure better security for women on board public transportation. "They should also ensure that the victims of these crimes get protection and treatment from the state," she said.

She agreed with Linda that there needed to be a change in mind-set among the public to put the blame for rape on the victim. She said this mind-set extended to the police's recommendation that women traveling alone arm themselves with pepper spray or stun guns, which she contended made it the responsibility of women to end the scourge of rape.

"Once again women are being patronized. They're the victims; they get the blame and now they have to protect themselves," Masruchah said. "If the government keeps this up, soon women will have to stay at home."

She added the string of cases also highlighted the fact that there were fewer places in public were women could still feel safe.

In the latest attack, a teenager reported that she was knocked unconscious and raped while waiting for an angkot public minivan on Friday. The 18-year-old nursing student, identified as J.M., told police the attack occurred at about 9 p.m. in South Jakarta.

She said that she had been on her way to visit a friend in Ciputat. She left Ciledug aboard an angkot on the C-01 route, and got off near the railway tracks in Kebayoran Lama in order to switch to another angkot to Ciputat.

While she was waiting, she noticed a group of five men nearby watching her. She said the men began to make lewd comments and verbally harass her. When she moved away, she later told the police, the men followed her

According to the police, J.M. became frightened and ran away from the men, who gave chase. "The victim ran to the railway tracks, but she was hit by one of the men and knocked unconscious," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Monday.

"According to her, she woke up the next morning with the zipper on her pants undone," Rikwanto said. He said medical tests confirmed that she had been raped.