Fikri Zaki Muhammadi, Jakarta – Cleric Hasan Ja'far Assegaf's molestation case might have escaped the national and local media spotlight, but anxiety among the victims and their families remain, thanks to the sluggish pace of the police investigation.

The Jakarta Police claim that cases of molestation are difficult because most of the testimonies can only be gathered from victims and suspects.

Hasan, leader of the Nurul Musthofa group, was accused of sexually abusing some of his male students in December 2011 and is said to have abused students since 2002, groping his disciples and performing oral sex on them in what he claimed was "therapy". The victims filed reports with the Jakarta Police in December 2011.

At the time police summoned 12 people, including victims, their families and Hasan's circle. While the Criminal Code stipulates a penalty of seven years in prison for sexual abuse of minors, no developments have been reported by the police since and Hasan remains free.

Jakarta Police's Adj. Sr. Comr. Hando Wibowo, said on Monday that his team would continue with their investigation until "the case is clear".

University of Indonesia criminologist Bambang Widodo Umar has pointed out the need for the police to disclose their investigation progress to the public. "Molestation cases are difficult to investigate, but the police have to be transparent," Bambang told The Jakarta Post recently. He said police should have thought of ways to overcome the difficulties of such cases.

"They can actually dispatch their intelligence agents to the field, for instance, to observe the alleged suspects' behavior," he said, adding police transparency proved to the public that they feared no one in their investigations.

"But if they think this is difficult, or might be impossible to reveal, then they should be brave enough to close the case," he said. "They can reopen the case if they have new findings."

The National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) criticized the police for being "too careful" in handling this case when they said that Hasan was a "noted figure". The commission also said the law should know no boundaries.

The National Police Commission (Kompolnas) urged the Jakarta Police to immediately announce the status of Hasan.

Like Bambang, commissioner Edi Hasibuan said on Sunday that police should close the case if they could not reach a conclusion.

On transparency, Komnas PA said that police were not serious in their handling of the case, despite the evidence to start investigating Hasan intensively.

"We see that the evidence is complete: videos, photos, testimonies from witnesses. But police are not moving anywhere, even just to reveal the development of the case to the victims' families," commission chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait said, confirming that the families have heard nothing from the police lately.