SP/Fana FS Putra – Cases of sexual assault and harassment of students at the hands of their teachers continue to come to light, with school authorities failing to act on many complaints.

A 12-year-old elementary school student in East Jakarta, identified as A.P., told the Jakarta Globe that she was repeatedly assaulted by her teacher, and was now traumatized and afraid to go to school.

A.P. said her math teacher K.G. had for the past six months often touched and kissed her neck, hands and breasts. "I was often kissed, hugged and touched. I fought and cried, but the teacher just laughed at me," the girl said at her house on Wednesday.

Holding back tears, she told of the drawn-out ordeal, in which her teacher would tell her to stay put when other students were leaving for home. After sexually assaulting her, A.P. said, the teacher would threaten her, telling her not to report his behavior to anyone.

She said she wasn't the only student being assaulted by the teacher, but another student by the initials S.F. was also a victim.

"I'm afraid to go to school now. I want to move to another school. I'm afraid," she said, adding that when she reported the incident to her home room teacher, she was told that the math teacher was only showing his affection for his student. "The home room teacher said that Pak K.G. kissed me because he was fond [of me]," she said.

The victim's mother I.S. said she reported the pattern of assault to the school, but staff responded to it lightly, saying that what the teacher did was normal. "It's not normal at all. Imagine, my daughter cried hysterically. This means she no longer feels comfortable with her teacher's behavior," I.S. said.

A similar incident involving a contract-based teacher, identified as M.S., was reported this week in Bandung, West Java. In the Bandung case, the teacher is suspected of sexually harassing or assaulting students for at least six years.

Agus, a parent of a student at the school, reported his daughter's teacher to his neighborhood watch chief after a community meeting, saying that M.S. had been harassing his daughter since 2012.

He said authorities had given M.S. a room to sleep in at the school because he lived far from work, and that the alleged harassment was committed in that room. Agus said he had reported the incident to school authorities but his report fell on deaf ears.

After news of M.S.'s alleged sexual harassment spread, another case emerged. The victim's father said his daughter was also harassed by the same teacher about six years ago.

"With a victim who is now in senior high school, it's believed that the teacher has been doing this since 2007," Agus said.