Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, Tarakan – A Koran recital teacher who is also an imam at a Tarakan mosque in East Kalimantan has been arrested after admitting to raping one of his students, an 8-year old girl.

The girl's mother reported 40-year old Sul to the police upon learning of her daughter's ordeal.

"According to the victim's parent, the incident happened on Saturday [April 13]. The victim claimed that she was sexually abused by the suspect in the mosque after a Koran recital class," Tarakan Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Desman S. Tarigan said on Tuesday.

"The parent only learned about it on Sunday after the child complained that she felt pain in her genitals."

Desman said police immediately apprehended Sul, who admitted to the investigators that he raped the victim and was immediately named a suspect and detained.

A doctor's examination also confirmed that the victim was suffering from internal bleeding and wounds due to the rape. Investigators believe they may be more victims, because the suspect was teaching about 30 children, most of whom were girls.

"Based on reports from the public, this was not the first time that he has committed this, but that he has done this several times. We have asked the residents to file a report," Deman said.

The suspect has been charged under Article 81(2) and Article 82 of Law No. 23/2002 on child protection. "It carries a 15-year punishment and that's quite high," he said.

Amir, a parent, said he was shocked when he heard about the news because two of his daughters, one aged 8 and another aged 12, were also Sul's students.

"From what I know, he has a wife and five children," Amir said. "He's a teacher's assistant in an elementary school. At night, he teaches Koran to children."

Amir said that Sul was also a mosque Imam in Selumit Pantai. "There was a news about Sul before, that once he tried to rape a student in a mosque after studying the Koran, but it did not happen because the child fought back," he added.