The #JusticeForAudrey assault case, which has dominated Indonesian headlines this week and resulted in millions of Indonesians signing a petition demanding the prosecution of 12 high school girls accused of the assault, has taken a twist that may absolve some of the girls of blame.
Audrey, a middle school girl from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, was allegedly assaulted by the 12 girls on March 29 over some Facebook comments she wrote about one of the alleged assailants' boyfriends. Audrey's story became the talk of the country this week after details about the assault went viral on social media, such as the brutal allegations that they smashed her head against the pavement while one assailant bruised her genitalia in her attempt to take away her virginity. In many posts about the case, the girls' identities and photos were fully exposed.
The Pontianak Police named three of the girls suspects for assault yesterday evening, but the result of their medical examination of Audrey may negate certain aspects of the alleged assault that were detailed in the viral social media posts.
"From the result of the medical examination carried out by Medika Hospital, there was no bruising on her head nor around her eyes and her eyesight is normal. The otolaryngologist did not find any bleeding, her heart and lungs are relatively normal, and her stomach is also flat and normal. In regards to her hymen, no tearing or bruising was observed, and there was also no bruising on her skin," Pontianak Police Chief Anwar Nasir told the media yesterday, as quoted by Okezone.
That said, Anwar did not deny that Audrey was bullied by at least some of the 12 girls, only that the alleged assault may not be as severe as many were led to believe.
In fact, three of the girls, all aged 17, have been charged with violating child protection laws – which carries a maximum three-and-a-half year sentence – after they confessed to assaulting Audrey to the police. The three suspects' punishments may be adjusted down due to them also being minors in accordance to Indonesia's child prosecution laws.
Seven of the girls were also interrogated by the Pontianak Police yesterday, after which they held a press conference apologizing to Audrey but also pleading to the public to stop sharing false accusations against them.
"I'm sorry for what happened, but we never ganged up [on Audrey], let alone stabbed her vital [reproductive] organ. Netizens, please don't judge us because we did no such thing," one of the alleged assailants, identified by her initials LL, told reporters yesterday evening as quoted by Okezone.
"We had no intention [to injure Audrey's genitalia]. In fact, we only found out from netizens, while we never did what we were accused of doing. News stories saying we are psychopaths and sexual criminals are not true."
LL added that she did have an altercation with the victim but only because she was angry that Audrey had insulted her deceased mother.
Another girl said only three of them actually fought with Audrey while the rest watched, while one girl said she wasn't even among the 12 who fought with Audrey or watched.
"It must be known that I am also a victim because I was accused even though I was not even at the location. I'm confused as to why I was accused as being a provocateur when I was not even there. I have received death threats, stabbing threats in phone calls up to now. I plead to netizens please stop judging us," the girl said.
The West Kalimantan Child Protection Commission (KPPAD) said they are providing legal and psychological assistance to the 12 girls, who they said have become depressed after the case blew up.
A petition on change.org, bearing the viral hashtag #JusticeForAudrey and demanding the authorities prosecute her alleged assailants, has amazingly attracted more than 3.6 million signatures as of this morning since it was posted two days ago.
Such swift and immense public outrage to a bullying case like this has never been seen in Indonesia before. Audrey's case became so viral this week that even President Joko Widodo released a statement on social media condemning the alleged assault, acknowledging calls for revisions to child prosecution laws while stressing that it's more important to ensure children don't bully each other through ethical and religious persuasion.