MEDAN: The University of North Sumatra (USU) has opened an internal investigation into a student at its Economics and Business School (FEB) over allegations that he sexually harassed dozens of students, in a case that has gone viral on social media.
USU public relations and promotions manager Irsan Mulyadi said the university leadership was giving serious attention to the allegations and had begun investigating the student, identified only by his initials, CHS.
Irsan said USU had asked all alleged victims to file reports with the university’s Sexual Harassment Handling and Prevention (PPKS) task force so their cases could be processed under the existing mechanism.
He added that the reports were also necessary to establish the number of students allegedly victimised by CHS.
“It is said that 60 victims have created a WhatsApp group,” Irsan told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
“However, only 10 victims have filed official reports with the PPKS task force as of today,” he said, expressing confidence that more would come forward.
He promised that every report would be handled seriously and professionally, while the privacy of all complainants would be protected.
“This is to show our seriousness in resolving this case. USU does not provide space for sexual predators on campus,” Irsan said.
Meanwhile, the university rectorate has summoned CHS to respond to the allegations, but he had not appeared as of Friday afternoon.
“We sent a letter to the [accused],” Irsan said.
“The letter arrived at his parents’ home yesterday [July 10] morning, but he has not come.”
The allegations came to light after a student identified as H told another student, RI, about an uncomfortable encounter with CHS, who was her senior.
“CHS [lured] my friend H into his car for hugging, kissing and [other] indecent acts. There is proof of all that,” RI told reporters on Saturday.
RI said she subsequently published social media posts about indecent messages that CHS had allegedly sent to H.
The Instagram posts went viral, prompting other alleged victims to contact her through direct messages and share evidence that they had received similar treatment from CHS.
According to RI, 58 people had so far complained of being sexually harassed by CHS and had formed a WhatsApp group to address the situation.
“From the reports that have come in, the victims are not only from USU but also other universities,” RI said, adding that they included “not only female students but also male students”.
She alleged that CHS used various methods, including asking individuals to stay at hotels, engage in sexual activity over video calls and send pictures of their genitalia.
RI also alleged that he verbally harassed them using sexually explicit language and frequently sent pornographic material through Instagram Reels to provoke a response.
“CHS did this [...] to all of his victims,” she said.
Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta (UMY) is also investigating allegations of sexual harassment involving a lecturer from the Pharmacy Study Programme at its Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FKIK).
The allegations went viral on social media after an account published three screenshots of WhatsApp conversations purportedly between the lecturer and three students.
The messages allegedly contained inappropriate and sexually suggestive remarks sent by the lecturer to the students.
The university said it had launched an internal investigation and that the lecturer would remain suspended pending the outcome.
A similar incident at the University of Indonesia (UI) was uncovered earlier this year after screenshots showing 16 law students allegedly sexually harassing dozens of female students and lecturers went viral.
The university’s PPKS task force investigated the case and found that 15 of the 16 students had committed sexual harassment, while one had not.
UI imposed various penalties on the 15 students.
Three were suspended for three semesters, seven for two semesters and four for one semester, while the remaining student received a minor administrative sanction.
The 14 suspended students were also required to undergo psychological counselling and attend anti-sexual violence courses to prevent them from repeating the behaviour. - Jakarta Post/ANN
