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Jakarta Post

Herpes diagnosis called into question

The most recent installment in the string of testimonies on the alleged sexual abuse of a kindergartner at Jakarta International School (JIS) showed that the victim’s genital herpes test may have had a false-positive result

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, September 30, 2014

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Herpes diagnosis called into question

T

he most recent installment in the string of testimonies on the alleged sexual abuse of a kindergartner at Jakarta International School (JIS) showed that the victim'€™s genital herpes test may have had a false-positive result.

The SOS Medika Clinic pediatrician, Narain Punjabi, who conducted a blood test on the male victim on March 26, testified on Monday at the joint, closed-door trial of five outsourced cleaners who stand accused of the crime at the South Jakarta District Court, according to one of the defendants'€™ lawyers, Faizal Roni.

'€œThe doctor said the blood test showed antibodies to herpes simplex type 2 [HSV-2]. He said the antibodies could appear for other diseases, such as chickenpox, and so he had asked the victim'€™s mother to bring her son back for a second examination the following week. However, she never turned up,'€ Faizal told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HSV-2 is a virus that can lead to genital herpes and can be contracted through sexual contact. It is part of the herpes virus family, which also includes a virus that causes chickenpox. The similarities can produce a false-positive result in a blood test.

Faizal added that the pediatrician had denied that the victim'€™s anus and genitals produced a rotting smell, as the victim'€™s mother claimed during her testimony last Wednesday.

The case first came to light when the mother of the victim held a press conference on April 14. She said she had found bruises on her son'€™s stomach and anus on March 20 and reported the case to the police on March 24.

The five suspects '€” Afrischa Setyani, Virgiawan Amin, Zainal Abidin, Syahrial and Agun Iskandar '€” who were all employed by PT Integrated Service Solutions (ISS) to work at JIS, were subsequently detained. Another suspect, Azwar, died in April while in custody in the police'€™s women'€™s and children'€™s unit.

In the three-page indictment, the five defendants stand accused of having sexually abused the victim twice, once in January and once in February, in a rest room at JIS. The evidence consists of a narrative account of events and the results of three medical examinations conducted at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta, Pondok Indah Hospital in South Jakarta and SOS Medika Clinic in Cipete, South Jakarta.

The police previously said that two of the suspects had tested positive for genital herpes, which could link them to the alleged crime. However, all of the suspects'€™ lawyers denied that their clients had genital herpes.

The medical examination results of the suspects who allegedly tested positive for herpes were not described in the indictment.

Narain, who has been working at the clinic for 28 years, declined to comment on his testimony after the hearing ended.

Separately, the victim'€™s lawyer, Andi Asrun, told the Post that he was not worried about Narain'€™s testimony. '€œThere are still many other witnesses that will testify. He is merely one witness,'€ he said. (fss)

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