Persecution: Nation’s New Threat

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Susana Yembise attends the Declaration Against Violence, Exploitation and Persecution of Women and Children on June 6 at Central Jakarta’s Proclamation Monument. Cases of public persecution and mass vigilantism appear to have been growing in recent years, and not just against women and children.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Mass vigilantism and persecuting or persistent hostility continues against people who have been alleged of wrongdoing. This is a new type of “terror” that threatens the nation, especially as there has been no effort to counter them.

The latest victims of public vigilantism include the couple RN, 28, and MA, 20, who were forced to swallow the bitter taste of persecution at MA’s low-cost apartment in Cikupa, Tangerang regency. They were forcefully stripped naked and paraded around the neighborhood. This act, which was led by the heads of the RT 007 neighborhood unit and the RW 003 community unit, was videoed and uploaded onto social media.