October 28, 2011
Surabaya. Despite efforts by the authorities to stop new sex workers from joining the Dolly red-light complex here, more women continue to swell the ranks, including underage ones.
A resident of Tambaksari in Surabaya recently filed a police complaint against a couple she accuses of luring her 15-year-old daughter, Sandra, into the prostitution complex.
The couple in the complaint were identified as Asep Darmawan, 35, and his wife, Pepi Indah Sari, 17.
Sandra had recently left home and needed money, so her friend Norma, 16, contacted her employers, Asep and Pepi, who own a brothel in Dolly.
Adj. Comr Suratmi, head of the Surabaya Police’s protection unit for women and children, said on Thursday that the couple gave Sandra a Rp 1.5 million loan ($170) to rent a room. In return, they forced her to work in their brothel so she could pay back the debt.
Sandra did not tell her mother about the prostitution, instead saying she had found work as a waitress.
“To pay back her debt, Sandra worked at the Wisma 18 [brothel] for one month,” Suratmi said.
According to the brothel’s registry, he said, she was forced to service about 100 clients in that time. Unable to stand the work any longer, Sandra eventually returned to her mother’s home, but Asep insisted that she still owed him Rp 1.5 million.
After Sandra’s mother filed the complaint, a police investigation found that Asep and Pepi were forcing two other minors to work for them as sex workers. One of the two fled when the police came to rescue her.
Police have closed the brothel, and the couple could be charged with human trafficking and under child protection laws.
Surabaya’s infamous prostitution complex, named for the alley where it began during the Dutch colonial era, is believed to serve around 700 men daily. An estimated 80 percent of residents who live in its vicinity depend on the visitors for their income.
The Surabaya administration has been reluctant to shut it down immediately due to the economic impact, opting instead to phase it out gradually.
(as read in the JG)
vr 28 okt 2011 - 6:44