REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM -- The Joint Police team from Barelang Resort Police and Surabaya Resort Police has managed to rescue six women who are believed to be the victims of human trafficking in Baloi Area of Batam Island.
"Two of them, with the aliases Sn and Dw, are still juveniles. All of them are believed to be working as prostitutes in Batam," Chief of the Barelang Resort Police Senior Commissioner Asep Syarifudin stated here on Thursday (Jan. 15).
According to Asep, the juvenile victims had been repatriated to their hometown on Thursday afternoon.
The officers from Surabaya Resort Police will be handling the case of the victims who originate from East Java Province. The Barelang police received the report about human trafficking from the Surabaya Police Resort.
The police raid occurred after Yn (17) fled the shelter in Baloi area and reported to the security officer several days ago.
"Yn is a Surabayanese and after returning to Surabaya, she informed the resort police about human trafficking. The Surabaya Police then coordinated with the Barelang Police to conduct a raid on the house," Asep noted.
According to Yn's report, the criminal suspect, alias Al, had promised Yn a housemaid's job in Batam.
However, after arriving in Batam, Yn and Dw then joined three other women from Medan of North Sumatra. Al then forced them into prostitution.
The police in Barelang are pursuing Al after he was convicted of carrying out human trafficking.
"We will further investigate the case as there might be other victims of Al," Asep revealed.
The chief has also urged the pubic to not trust people who try to lure them with fake promises of offering high-paying jobs as a ploy to get them involved in human trafficking.
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