Jakarta – Every humiliating moment of that day is etched in Lilies Lindawati's memory. She still smarts at the indignity of being branded a prostitute as she stood before a jeering crowd in a "show trial" for Tangerang's new prostitution bylaw.

"I felt like I was being raped in front of those people who laughed at me after the judge ruled I was a prostitute, simply because the law and order officers found a makeup compact and a lipstick in my bag," a tearful Lilies told The Jakarta Post in her rented home in Tangerang.

Two months' pregnant at the time, she was arrested on Feb. 27 under the newly introduced Tangerang bylaw governing prostitution and public behavior, with her story widely reported in the media. She is refusing to be quiet despite the humiliating experience, and has reported Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim to the police for wrongful arrest and defamation of character.

Public order officers arrested the 35-year-old as she waited for a public minivan at the side of the street one evening. It was a cool evening and she had put on a jacket.

It was 7 p.m., and she was returning after an unsuccessful attempt to secure her final month's pay from her workplace, a restaurant that closed the week before. She needed it to pay for her daughter's school fees.

Suddenly, she was shocked as five public order officers approached and, calling her a prostitute, bundled her into a van. "I asked them why they were arresting me, but they said to save it for later at their office. I told them that I had a husband, but they ignored me."

She described a chaotic scene as 20 officers rounded up all the women in the area, including, she said, two teenagers eating at a sidewalk cafe and a 63-year-old buying rambutan on the side of the road.

Lilies said she tried to protest her innocence, giving her ID card to one of the officers, but they considered her makeup to be evidence enough that she was soliciting for sex. She does not own a cellular phone and could not contact her elementary school teacher husband.

She was detained for the night, with her trial and that of the others scheduled for the next day. It coincided with the anniversary of Tangerang city, and expectations of convictions were high as the women caught the night before were led out into a makeshift court set up in a park adjacent to City Hall.

"Lots of government officials and residents were gathered there. They were laughing at us as if we were part of a show," she said.

She was terrified by the judge's questioning. "I felt humiliated. I cried and told them that I had a husband. But I could not have him there to the trial to prove it since I was not allowed to call him."

The judge agreed with the arresting officers that she was a prostitute from the evidence of her makeup, and gave her the option of paying a Rp 300,000 fine or spending three days in jail. She only had Rp 10,000 on her, but, "even if I had had the Rp 300,000, I would not have paid it because I am no prostitute".

A reporter from Kompas daily attending the trial took down Lilies' address and contacted her husband, Kustoyo. He said he had been desperate to find his wife when she did not come home.

"The journalist told me that my wife had been put in front of many people as a prostitute. I felt like I was dying," he said. "My wife was only helping me support our family by working in that restaurant. What had she done wrong?"

The incident was embarrassing for the whole family, and Lilies is still reluctant to leave her home. When the Post asked her husband whether he would support his wife in her legal battle, Kustoyo wept and was silent for a moment.

"They (the Tangerang Education agency) made me sign an agreement that I would not take the mayor to court," said the 20-year teaching veteran. But he added he was willing to lose his job to support his wife.

Yan Apul, Lilies's lawyer, said that the mayor could be charged because he did not have the authority to dictate the conduct of residents. "Teachers are figures who can influence conduct, not the mayor. We will demand that he provide Rp 500 billion in restitution," he said.

He added the judge was at fault in sentencing Lilies without adequate proof of wrongdoing. "Even if Lilies were a prostitute, Article No. 4, Point 1 of the bylaw states that she must be returned to her family. However, the judge sent her to jail," he said.

Isma from the Tangerang office of the Indonesian Women's Coalition said there were 15 other women with similar experiences of wrongful arrest. "I know that they are scared to say anything now. But I encourage them to do the same thing as Lilies because they were humiliated," she said.

Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim said that his administration had submitted a draft of guidelines on enforcement of the bylaw. In order to prevent further wrongful arrest, the guidelines clearly define the criteria used in the bylaw to avoid further wrongful arrests. He added he would take stern measures against any the officers who erred in the enforcement of the bylaw.

The general secretary of the Home Ministry, Progo Nurdjaman, said his office would review the Tangerang bylaw. "The problem is in the implementation. I have asked the mayor to make guidelines," he said, acknowledging concerns it violated human rights.