Police in Tangerang yesterday announced the recent arrest of a man suspected of raping his own teenage daughter repeatedly over the past year.
According to the police, the suspect, who is identified as 39-year-old JN from Onyam village in Tangerang regency, divorced his wife two years ago. Their daughter, NK, who is now 16, has been living with him since.
A year after the divorce, JN allegedly began having sex with his daughter, who still goes to high school.
"It happened repeatedly. His motive was to satisfy his biological urge after he divorced his wife," South Tangerang Police Chief Ferdy Iriawan told reporters yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
Based on the police's interrogation of the suspect, JN allegedly convinced NK to have sex with him to dispel evil forces residing within her.
"The suspect's modus operandi was that he would say he was able to ward off black magic contained in the victim's body by getting intimate with her," Ferdy said, adding that he often told her to drink water which had been mixed with his semen.
NK complied with her father's wishes as she was scared of the consequences of the supposed black magic, Ferdy said. NK is now seven months pregnant, with her own father believed to be the father.
The teenager eventually confessed to her mother recently about what she had been going through over the past year after the mother called her out on changes in her behavior. The mother then reported JN to the police.
JN was charged with sexual abuse of a minor, which is a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Indonesia. However, as JN and NK have a biological connection, his prison term may be increased by up to a third of his eventual sentence.