KPI investigates ten-year bullying case following employee's heart-wrenching press release

On 1 September, an Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) employee, MS, posted a press release sharing his terrifying experience being a victim of bullying by seven of his colleagues. He said that the bullying started in 2011. By 2015, his situation became way worse as the perpetrators started to sexually assault him as well.

MS shared that he had tried to reach out for help by reporting the case to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in 2017 via email. In its reply, Komnas HAM advised him to make a police report because the incident is considered as a criminal offence. He made a police report 2 years later in 2019, but the police said that it will be better if he reports the case to his boss and let the management solve the problem internally, which he did. 

However, it did not go as planned. He received even more humiliation because the perpetrators heard that he told the boss about his experience. Stressed-out, he went for a psychological consultation, in which he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the bullying. 

With such a severe impact, he then decided to make another police report in 2020, but this time - and even worse, the police took the case as a joke. 

MS then mustered up his courage and decided to post a press release about the incident as his last resort. He also revealed the names of all seven perpetrators along with their departments in the press release. However, at the time this article was written, any contact information about the perpetrators are nowhere to be found. The case went viral overnight after it was posted by @grassroot.id, causing a public uproar. 

In response, the KPI released a press statement saying that it will look further and investigate the case. The institution promised that it will guarantee him legal protection and psychological treatment. 

On Thursday (2 September) the Central Jakarta Police Head of Criminal Investigation Unit Wisnu Wardhana confirmed that MS had filed a report to the Central Jakarta Police, accompanied by KPI Commissioner Nuning Rodiyah.