14-year-old raped by 14 men was top student

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Yuyun, the 14-year-old Indonesian student whose name has made headlines after her lifeless body was found after a brutal gang rape, was a top student in her class.

According to local media, her teacher Teguh, known only by one name as many Indonesians are, said Yuyun was intelligent and outgoing.

“In the first semester alone, (Yuyun) was ranked 3rd out of 32 students in her class. As a teacher and guardian, of course we feel very lost,” Teguh was quoted as saying.

Yuyun disappeared on Saturday, April 2, but her story did not make it to the news until a month later partly because of the remote location of her village.

Her bruised corpse was found in a ravine 3 days after her disappearance on Monday, April 4, in Bengkulu Province, her feet and hands bound, and naked.

She was on her way home from school when she was believed to have been dragged into the woods by someone she knew, and raped by 14 young men believed to have been drinking, before she was hit on the head by timber and killed.

Search operations yielded no results until that Monday.

Her body was discovered by one of the village’s residents who was led to her location due to a strong stench. Yuyun was wearing only a singlet and her underwear when she was found, but was wearing her school uniform when she disappeared.

Police believe she was raped two to three times each, and that she died during her rape.

Shock, grief

Yuyun’s father, who is in his early 30s, said he never expected something so brutal to happen to his daughter.

“I never expected a disaster of this magnitude,” he said.

Yuyun’s twin brother Yayan is said to be traumatized from the incident.

Of the 14 perpetrators, 12 are under police custody while two others are still at large. Only two of the 12 arrested are believed to be older than Yuyun.

The police said they continue to gather information about the case, while the community tries to make sense of the morbid crime.

“We hope this case can be solved. We also pray for the souls of our children received by Allah, and that her family be given the fortitude to face this ordeal. We believe that there is wisdom behind all this,” said Teguh. – Rappler.com