Syamsul Huda M. Suhari, Gorontalo – The family of an alleged gang-rape victim has said it believed unidentified people have been watching them since the case, which implicates nine policemen and four civilians, was reported.

One of the victim's uncles said that almost every day he saw strangers monitoring the girl's family home. "At first, we were not suspicious but because it happened repeatedly, we concluded that someone was watching us," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Several days ago, he added, not long after a team from the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) visited the victim, neighbors reported the presence of a car that had been parked not far from her house since early that morning.

"The car was a black Rush with tinted glass. The driver left the scene in a hurry after being discovered," the uncle said.

Most of the suspicious incidents occurred during the night. Unknown people would ride slowly past the house on motorcycles trying to see into the property, he added, with their faces hidden by helmets. "But I can confirm that they are strangers, not local residents," he said.

After the case was reported to police in early October, the girl and her family decided to move to a relative's house, some two hours drive from their home.

The girl's father said he was forced to make the decision for the sake of security. "A number of the suspects live near our house and nobody has guaranteed our safety," he said.

During the family's move, he claimed to have spotted a bentor (motorized tricycle) driver who was looking for where they were staying. "After spotting the house, the driver then made a phone call to someone, as if he was submitting a report," he said.

The family, however, said it had not received any direct threats. "However, because I feel that I am being watched all the time, I am afraid to leave the house alone," he said, adding that other members of his family were also affected by the surveillance.

Commenting on the matter, Gorontalo Police chief spokeswoman Adj. Sr. Comr. Lisma Dunggio said she was not aware of any suspicious monitoring. "We have no idea about it; there are no orders to keep them under surveillance," she said.

"The police are still investigating the other alleged rapists as revealed by the victim to our detectives." She added that the police were also helping to provide the victim with psychological counseling.

So far, Gorontalo Police have named only one policeman and three civilians as suspects. However, Lisma said the suspects had not been charged with rape but molestation. She also said their files had been separated as different crime scenes were involved.

Eight other policemen are still being questioned as witnesses, including one whom the victim accused as being the first man to rape her together with three other policemen in July. Lisma said the police had yet to find strong-enough evidence to arrest the eight officers.