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Jakarta. “My mom came to get me [from the Shariah Police office] at 7 a.m. I was crying. The head lecturer at my campus, Doni, was there to lecture me. A Shariah Police officer told him that I had been caught [on an isolated road on a motorcycle with my boyfriend]. He told my mom and me that I should be buried and stoned to death. I said, ‘Sir, I was only trying to look for a shortcut, and I should be stoned for that? What about the officers who raped me last night?’”

— Nita, 20, was apprehended by the Shariah Police in January 2010 for the crime of “seclusion” and then raped in their custody.

“They beat Budi in front of the house, and then they brought him to the neighborhood [prayer space] on foot. There, they kept hitting him and burned him with cigarettes. Many other men from the community came — probably around 50. And many of them were hitting him. The police didn’t question anyone that night about what happened to Budi, even though he had a broken rib, cigarette burns on his body, a black and blue face, and split, bleeding lips. The government has to make sure this won’t happen again to other people.”

— Rohani witnessed the 2009 beating of 17-year-old Budi, the boyfriend of her daughter, Sri, 17, by community members who believed that Sri and Budi had committed “seclusion” inside Rohani’s home.

“I heard noise, like a crowd of angry people. There was a group of more than 10 but [fewer] than 50 men. They broke the door, came in, and without saying anything, they punched [Nurdin]. His nose was bleeding ... They took some of our things, like our cell phones and chargers, and a small TV set. One of them touched my breasts, like I am a ‘loose woman’, being caught with a man in a house. I was so embarrassed. After I was released [from police custody on suspicion of ‘seclusion’] I wanted to leave [Aceh] immediately. It was hard for me, but even harder for [Nurdin]. When he came back home, the village head told him he couldn’t stay there anymore and that he had to give the village all of his things, and money to slaughter a cow or sheep and cook it, as compensation for embarrassing the village.”

— Rosmiati was attacked by neighbors, who accused her and a male friend, Nurdin, of committing “seclusion” after Rosmiati went inside his home alone for 20 minutes in the early evening in January 2009.

“I said, ‘It’s my choice to wear the veil — it’s my business with God.’ The [Shariah Police officer’s] answer was, ‘No, there is a rule in Islam that regulates it.’ Then they gave back my ID card and told me that if I did the same thing three times I would be whipped. I might want to use a veil, but not because I’m forced, because I want to.”

— Dewi was stopped by the Shariah Police for violating the Islamic attire requirement in May 2010 as she was not wearing a veil.


Human Rights Watch