A private high school in Depok, Indonesia and the family of a student overturned a decision to expel the student after she had been kidnapped and raped. The decision to allow the girl back into the school was reached during a mediation proceeding, and the girl will be headed back to the classroom soon.

Mediation Services Provided By Commission For Child Protection

The girl in the case was expelled for having “sullied the good name of the school” after she agreed to meet a man whom she had met through Facebook, a social networking site. The man abducted and raped her. National Commission for Child Protection chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait participated in the proceeding and acted as a mediation lawyer representing the girl. Sirait stated that the school should be held responsible and do whatever they can to restore the good name of the child.

“Even though the discharge has been annulled, the school must return the spirit of the child (so she can) return to her studies and should announce to the other students that this child is the victim and not the criminal, as had been announced during a flag raising ceremony there,” Arist also stated.

Mediation Organized After Public Indignation

The commission along with the 14 year old victim's parents vocalized their opposition to the decision made by Budi Utomo Junior High School to expel the child. The public caught wind of the story and the school felt the pressure to accept a civil mediation by the local education office.

The mediation was held in private in the presence of the headmaster of the school Komnas Anak, the social affairs office, municipal education offices, and the victim's family. It was revealed that the victim had told her parents she was going to attend a church service but had not come home and remained gone for days afterward. Her parents reported her missing two and a half days later. Four days after having left, the girl was dropped off at a train station in Depok by the man that had abducted her.

Arist claimed that the child was traumatized and depressed after the incident and that the school should be forced to help the girl regain confidence by any means necessary in that it was crucial to her being able to successfully return to her studies.