The sexual assault of two underaged females during police custody in the Kaimana Regency, Papua Barat Province, on 16 February 2025 has again drawn public attention to the lack of professionalism among the police in West Papua. A police officer with the initials EMP (see photo below, source: independent HRD) is suspected of sexually abusing two girls, aged 13 and 14 years after they were caught stealing. The victims’ parents reported the sexual assault to the Kaimana District Police on 20 February 2025. Police officers arrested MEP in West Seram, Maluku Province after he had gone into hiding.
According to media information, the officer MEP arrested the two victims in the hallway of a mosque near the Pasar Baru Kaimana Market on 16 February 2025, at around 11 pm. The arrest was carried out based on allegations of theft. MEP detained the two girls at the Pasar Baru Police Post for two days without notifying the parents. The victims testified that EMF repeatedly hit them with the hand to the back of the head during detention. EMF is accused of sexually abusing one of the girls outside the police post. After bringing the victim back to the detention cell, MEP reportedly raped the other girl in a separate room inside the post.
