Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Four women believed to be victims of a human trafficking syndicate were placed in protective custody by the North Sumatra Police on Monday.
The women from Bandung, West Java, were allegedly sold into prostitution at the Bandar Baru red-light district in Sibolangit, Deli Serdang.
The police also arrested two people believed to be responsible and were holding them at the North Sumatra Police headquarters.
The four victims, named as Reni, 25, Leni, 24, Rina, 25, and Elsa, 20, were still giving their testimony to police investigators to identify those behind the syndicate.
North Sumatra Police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Ronny Frengki Sompie said Tuesday the police were still building the case.
"We are still gathering facts from the victims. We badly need proof to uncover (this) case due to the stir it has caused among the community," said Ronny.
Ronny said preliminary investigations indicated the case involved a local syndicate. Its mode of operations included the offering of highly paid jobs.
In January, police arrested a married couple, Sathia Moorthy and Malathi Alagu of Malaysia, believed to have trafficked 130 women from North Sumatra to Malaysia from July 2006 to January this year.
Reni (not her real name), one of the alleged victims from Bandung, said they were offered jobs as domestic maids in Medan by a man from Bandung named Kidir. She said Kidir did not mention the exact salaries they would get but that they would be paid in US dollars.
The women, who are cousins, immediately left for Medan and arrived at the Bandar Baru red-light district on Feb. 15. They boarded a dorm owned by Antonius Sembiring.
"As we arrived at the dorm, Antonius told to us we would work as sex workers and get paid Rp 75,000 (approximately US$8.00) for each client. We would have to set aside Rp 25,000 for Antonius and another Rp 15,000 for the transportation costs from Bandung to here, while the rest would go to pay off our debts to Antonius," Reni told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
She said they had been sold by a go-between in Bandung named Erika to Antonius for Rp 10 million each. Reni said they had to repay the amount.
"We were sold and each of us was told we had pay off the Rp 10 million to Antonius by working as sex workers," said Reni.
The four women escaped from the brothel and hid in a church until they went to the police.
Pusaka Indonesia activist Widya Susanti said the four women would be returned to their hometowns immediately after the police inquiry.
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"We will probably return them to Bandung next week, but before that we wish to treat them because they have been severely traumatized by the ordeal," said Widya.
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