Child sex abuse at Indonesian school sparks calls for tougher punishments

A sex abuse scandal at one of Indonesia's most prestigious international schools has sparked a heated debate about the failure to protect youngsters in the country and prompted calls for harsher punishments for paedophiles.

Accusations that a six-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by cleaning staff at the nursery of the Jakarta International School, a favourite with the capital's expatriates and wealthy Indonesians, sparked widespread anger this month.

A second child has since come forward claiming to have been assaulted at the nursery, which the government has now ordered to be closed, and the school has also disclosed it used to employ an American teacher who was suspected of being a paedophile.

Police have arrested six cleaners contracted from an outside company over the recent abuse accusations, one of whom has committed suicide, and the school has pledged to co-operate with the investigation.

Beyond public anger over the alleged abuse at the elite school, the scandal has focused attention on a subject previously little discussed in Indonesia: the high incidence of child sex attacks, particularly in schools.