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Sociologist Ordered to Pay Dayaks in Gongs for Sex Insult
January 24, 2011

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mauriceg
10:15am Jan 24, 2011

I recall that Margaret Mead was a celebrity sociologist for many years, then villified some time after her books were published, by some apparently 'revised' information that had been made available, following another set of questionnaires by someone else, I forget who.

now, it seems that her reputation is being re-habilitated, as the apparently damning follow-up investigations procedures were flawed.

Is this history repeating itself?

londoedan
9:24am Jan 24, 2011

Good grief - you really can't say anything anymore these days, can we?


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Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. A customary court in the Central Kalimantan capital has ordered sociologist Thamrin Amal Tamagola to pay an unusual fine and the cost of the tribunal for having insulted the Dayak community.

Thamrin, a professor in sociology at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, last month testified at the high-profile sex-tape trial of Peterpan singer Nazril “Ariel” Ilham that premarital sex was common among the Dayaks in Kalimantan.

His statements incited a wave of anger throughout the Dayak community, whose members have condemned Thamrin’s testimony as untrue and insulting.

On Saturday, Lewis K.D.R., head of the council of judges, ordered Thamrin to give musical gongs weighing a total of 500 kilograms to the Dayaks as restitution and pay the cost of the court proceedings — Rp 77.78 million ($8,500).

Thamrin was also asked to make a public apology to the Dayak community and revoke his testimony concerning the contested statement.

“The verdict is binding and final so that there are no longer any claims acting in the name of the Dayak community against Thamrin Tamagola,” Lewis said.

Lewis added that with Thamrin’s appearance at the court, the “local people welcome his good intentions and apology.”

Thamrin said he accepted the ruling and vowed to abide by it.

“I hereby express my deepest regrets and my widest apology to the Dayak community as well as the Dayak customary council because I have made a mistake and insulted the Dayak community and its customs,” Thamrin was quoted as saying after his verdict by the Kompas daily.

He also said he was revoking his “insulting” statements. Prior to the trial, Thamrin had made a public apology during a press conference.

His trial, at the Betang Tingang Ngaderang hall, was closely guarded by 300 police personnel as thousands of Dayaks from across Kalimantan thronged the area.

The hall, in the form of a traditional house on stilts, was designed to accommodate 112 people, but some 3,000 chairs had been set up in the surrounding grounds.

“What Professor Thamrin said is very insulting to us as Dayak women in Central Kalimantan. In the Dayak custom, such unbecoming attitudes are not allowed and violators face customary fines,” said Tuty Datau, a local Dayak figure who is also a provincial legislative council member.

Thamrin came to Palangkaraya on Friday and was escorted by up to 20 police officers during his stay.

 
Antara