John Aglionby – A women's rights monitoring group in Indonesia is investigating reports that dozens of women were raped during the rioting last month that contributed to the downfall of the country's dictator, Suharto.

The Mitra Perempuan centre said there had been so many reports of women, particularly of Chinese descent, being raped and publicly humiliated that it was to launch its own inquiry, despite police reporting no cases of sexual abuse during riots that swept through Jakarta and the surrounding areas from May 13 to 15.

"At the moment we think dozens of women were attacked but it could be more that 100 by the time we finish our inquiries," the centre's volunteers coordinator, Dhanie, said. "It appears people have been paid to stay silent."

Most of the attacks happened in Chinatown in west Jakarta, where thousands of buildings were looted and burnt in three days of violence sparked by the shooting dead of four students by the security forces, the day before.

The authorities say 550 people were killed in the riots but, according to the country's official human rights body, the National Commission on Human Rights, the true figure is more than double that. The commission says it too is investigating cases of rape.

Ms Dhanie said the incidents ranged from "mild" cases of sexual harassment, such as ten women who were taken from a bus, stripped and forced to bathe in a stagnant roadside pond, to extreme cases, including a pregnant mother and her three daughters who were either raped or molested in front of a cheering crowd.

One worshipper at a church in west Jakarta said an indigenous Indonesian woman had stood up during prayers on Sunday to ask forgiveness for not coming forward to report what she had seen in her street.

"This woman described how a mob surrounded a house with two Chinese women inside and said if they did not come out the house would be burnt. But the women preferred to die than be raped by the mob so they stayed inside and were burnt alive.

"It turned out after the service that almost everyone had heard similar stories."

Many of the victims have said that in most cases the perpetrators were not part of the rampaging mobs of urban poor. "There is clear evidence that much of the violence was orchestrated," said Christianto Ariswandi, a Chinese electrnoic goods shopkeeper whos premises were looted. "Even with the history of hatred against us, the locals would not have considered causing so much damage. After all, it is their neighbourhood to."

He and many others believe elements within the military coordinated the violence.

Ms Dhanie is not surprised that not one woman has reported the abuse to the police. "People are afraid they will either be raped again by the police or they wont be treated confidentially. There is a stigma about sexual abuse in Indonesia and women prefer anything to suffering public humiliation of being raped."

Ms Dhanie said she doubted the centre's investigation will change attitudes. "Our society and culture are so patriarchal I believe it will take at least another generation before we have anything like equal rights here. Practically all the female victims said those doing the raping were cheered on by their friends."

Set up in 1995, Mitra Perempuan is the only organisation caring for abused women in Indonesia. Ms Dhanie said: "The government not only tolerates the repression of women but actively supports it."