Indonesian Boarding School Closed Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Director

Jakarta. A boarding school in Central Java, Indonesia, has been closed. The Nadhlatul Ulama Kusumo Islamic Boarding School has been closed following serious allegations of mass sexual abuse. 

The school's 58-year-old director, Kyai Ashari, is accused of sexually abusing dozens of female students for years. It is said that many of the victims are from poor families and are orphaned girls. 

On May 2, hundreds of local residents protested outside the school. They chanted slogans against Ashari, carrying banners that read "Women are not sexual objects" and "The Predator." The police then took him out in a security cordon.

According to the victim's lawyer, Ali Yusron, 30 to 50 girls may have been victims of Ashari's sexual violence. So far, only one victim has filed a formal complaint. It is said that many witnesses later withdrew their statements. According to the police, Ashari was declared the main suspect on April 28. He is accused of assaulting one victim at least 10 times in various locations from 2020 to 2024.

According to the investigation, he would enter the students' rooms on the pretext of giving a "massage," ask them to undress, and touch, hug, and kiss them inappropriately. After the tenth incident, the victim informed her father, and a complaint was filed with the police. 

The police initially said Ashari would not abscond. However, he later fled from Pati and went to Bogor, Jakarta, and Solo. Finally, on the night of May 6, he was arrested from a mosque in Wonogiri, Central Java.