Hengky Ola Sura, Maumere – Some 77 students of class VII of Bunda Segala Bangsa (BSB) seminary junior high school in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were reportedly "punished" by two senior students and forced to eat human feces last week.
One of the students who had been subjected to the abuse said the incident began when they came back to the school's dormitory to take an afternoon rest after lunch.
When they arrived at the dormitory, one of the senior students said he had found human feces in a bag inside a cupboard that was usually empty. The seniors called all of the junior students and asked them who put the feces inside the cupboard.
As no one admitted doing so, the student – who requested anonymity – said the seniors scooped the human feces with a spoon and force-fed it to each of the 77 junior students.
The junior students accepted the mistreatment as they were too frightened to fight back, the student said. "It was very disgusting, but we could not fight back," the class VII student said.
He said after the incident, the senior students warned them not to report the incident to their parents.
One of the victims, however, decided to run home and tell his parents about the incident, which was later made public after one of the students' parents protested on a WhatsApp group handled by the school's public relations officer on Friday.
Maria Flora, one of the parents, said that she was disappointed, describing the incident as inhumane. She demanded the seniors involved in the abuse be exposed and punished for their actions.
"This incident would not be accepted in any nation in any part of the world [...] Maybe the people who punish their juniors this way have mental issues," Maria said, as quoted from her statement in the WhatsApp group made available to The Jakarta Post.
Another parent, Hetty Hendriyani, also expressed her anger. "We send our children to the seminary school so that they can learn to be good people, not to be treated in this way. This is extremely disappointing," she said.
The SBS seminary declined to issue any official statement when contacted by journalists about the incident. However, kompas.com reported that the school would hold a meeting with the students' parents to discuss the matter. (gis)