Jakarta – The police in Surabaya, East Java, have detained a former student of Airlangga University (Unair) alleged to have sexually assaulted multiple victims after tricking them into helping him to do academic "research".
The suspect, identified only as Gilang, was apprehended on Thursday in Kapuas, Central Kalimantan, with the cooperation of local police personnel, the head of Surabaya Police's mobile detective unit, First. Insp. Aris Risky, said.
"[Gilang] was transported to Surabaya this morning after undergoing a COVID-19 rapid test in Kapuas Regional General Hospital," Aris said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.
At least three people have reported Gilang to the police. Officers have questioned them and several other witnesses and raided his rooming house to collect some of his belongings as evidence, Aris said.
Gilang is currently in the custody of the Surabaya Police to be questioned intensively over the allegations, he added.
The case gained nationwide attention recently after several victims took to Twitter to share their accounts of being tricked by Gilang into performing an act known as "bondage mummification" under the pretense of academic research.
One user with the handle @m_fikris wrote that he and his friend agreed to participate in Gilang's thesis "research" about "wrapping" in July after Gilang persistently begged him, saying he was at risk of failing his studies for not finishing his thesis. Gilang was in his fifth year of university.
Gilang sent instructions for @m_fikris and his friend to take turns covering each other's bodies, including their mouths and eyes, with duct tape. He also instructed them to wrap their bodies in jarik (traditional Javanese cloth) and later asked them to record the process and to send him the footage afterward.
Another victim who spoke to The Jakarta Post said that when they were both university freshmen, Gilang had drugged him, covered his entire body with a blanket, and groped him when he was sleeping at Gilang's rooming house after a university event in 2015. "I confronted [Gilang] the next day, and he admitted all his actions," said the victim.
On Wednesday, Unair announced that it had officially expelled Gilang from the university's School of Cultural Sciences as its investigation had found that he had committed sexual assaults on the victims. (nal)