Semarang man posing as habib abuses 8 underage students
Police say the victims were 13-16 years old, the abuse ran from 2023 to 2024, and the suspect is held under child protection law.
Semarang Police have detained AJS (56), a man from Salatiga who claimed to be a habib, in a sexual assault case involving eight female students at an Islamic boarding school in Susukan District, Semarang Regency. Police said the victims were still minors, aged 13-16 at the time. The abuse ran from June 2023 to November 2024. According to Semarang Police Criminal Investigation Unit chief AKP Bodia Teja Lelana, AJS initially came as a guest and later taught at the boarding school, using religious claims to pressure the victims. The victims were allegedly threatened with bad fortune, sin, or hell, and were told intercourse could erase sins and serve as treatment. Police also found indications the abuse did not occur only on the boarding school grounds, but also at hotels in the Semarang Regency area under the pretext of pilgrimage. The case was reported in May 2025 after the victims became afraid and the suspect was briefly uncooperative when officers came to detain him.