Indonesian girl's ordeal: Victim of 'classic conspiracy case' (Canberra Times, 2 Januari 1971)

The Canberra Times (1971-01-02) - Indonesian girl's ordeal VICTIM OF 'CLASSIC CONSPIRACY CASE' Source: Trove, National Library of Australia - https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110446613 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 OCR text (uncorrected) follows. 02 Jan 1971 - Indonesian girl's ordeal Canberra Times (ACT: 1926 - 1995), Saturday 2 January 1971, page 8 Indonesian girl's ordeal* VICTIM OF 'CLASSICCONSPIRACY CASE'From HUGH MABBETT, in DjakartaJUBILANT crowd outside a Jogjakarta, central Java, courthouse one day this month signalled the end of aI grotesque ordeal for a17-year-old girl eggseller, the victim of a classic case of conspiracy.Three months ago the girl, Sum Kuning, also known as Sumarijem, was kidnapper' by four youths and raped by three of them under threat of death if she resisted. All indications are that the youths,three of them long-haired, co; from important families because only connections in high places can explain the events which followed.'Borrowed'The police faced with a rape report which they were either too frightened or too well bribed to act upon, charged Sum Kuning with lodging a false statement "causing unrest among the people".But there were medical reports that she had been raped so the police cast about for another victim and settled upon a noodles and meatball seller named Trimo. He was charged with rape despite a complete lack of evidence and his repeated pleas that he had never even seen Sum Kuning.Later he was to tell the court that the police tortured him by placing pencils between his fingers and then pressing his fingers together to make him "confess".The police also "borrowed" Sum Kuning from the Jogjakarta hospitalwhere she was under treatment for injuries resulting from the triple rape and kept her without medical treatment for 30 days. During this time they questioned her relentlessly, at times deprived her of food and drink and threatened her with clectric torture if she did not go along with the police version.fj^HEY held over herhead an accusation that at the time of the Communist coup attemptin 1965, when she was barely 12 years old, she had been a member of Gerwani, the Communist women's organisation, and could go to prison foryears.Fabrication so blatant, however, was bound to produce reactions. Local newspapers made inquiries and published their findings. One result was that a reporter named Slamet Djabarudi spent 10 days under arrest for publishing an "unauthorised" account of the case. Another resultwas more intense publicinterest.Then came the court case, held behind closeddoors until the judges were ready to give their decision, whioh they did with the aid of loudspeakers so the hundreds of people around the courthouse could follow. TN a decision which tookone and a half hours to read the presiding judge, Mrs Lamiah Muljatno (who was assisted by Mrs Sumarno Abdurrachman and Mr Sujatno) demolished the police case, mainly on its own contradictions, and described the police methods in a manner which brought applause from the excitedcrowd.Freed from ber ordeal Sum Kuning, who had had two nurses attending her during the trial, returned to hospital.Newspapers in Jogjakarta and Djakarta commented happily on the implications for a full return to therule of law and praisedthe judges for their courage.Girl freedAnd as for the police — quickly it was reported that Dr Hugeng, Indonesia's police chief, had summoned Jogjakarta's two most senior police officers to Djakarta "to report upon the case".Many observers feel that because the Sum Kuning affair was so bungled the prospect has arisen that the youths the police set out to protect at the expense of a humble market girl may yet be brought to trial.