Jakarta —
An elderly man shouted at a female bus passenger (TransJ), calling her a terrorist, and even hit the victim at Grogol Petamburan Bus Stop, West Jakarta. The victim, Sabina Lutfi, recounted the chronology of the incident.
«I was sitting down, about to take a seat in front of him. Then he suddenly moved to the very back seat, but I didn’t notice anything at first—I was fully occupied with my phone from the first stop until my destination,» Sabina said.
The incident occurred on Thursday morning when she was riding TransJ Bus 8M on the Tanah Abang-Tanjung Duren route. She mentioned that there was no interaction with the elderly suspect during the trip from Tanah Abang to Taman Anggrek Bus Stop.
Sabina remained seated as the bus queued to enter the stop. She said the elderly man kicked her leg.
«I stayed seated, but then he got up from his seat and kicked my leg. I didn’t react at all,» she said.
She stated that the man accused her of glaring at him. Additionally, Sabina claimed he hit her and hurled insults.
«When the TransJ doors opened, I got off at the same stop as him. I wasn’t on my phone anymore because I was about to exit. Then he angrily shouted, ‘Why are you staring at me?’ and immediately hit my shoulder area twice while yelling profanities,» she explained.
Sabina defended herself as the man continued to assault her. Shortly after, TransJ staff intervened. She said the man later waited for her at another spot.
At that point, Sabina was escorted by TransJ personnel to prevent further conflict. She claimed the man verbally attacked her again.
«He was waiting for me near the staircase, still insulting me and complaining to the staff, ‘Why are you only siding with her? She was rude to me!’ He also cursed, saying I wouldn’t live like in the video,» she recounted.
Sabina mentioned that the TransJ staff accompanying her advised her to walk ahead of the man. The elderly man became upset again and continued using abusive language. Sabina then recorded the incident, including when he called her a terrorist.
«When I tried to walk, he wouldn’t let me walk behind him. The staff told me to walk in front, which offended him because I was escorted. That’s when he started calling me a ‘terrorist’ and other slurs. As soon as I heard ‘terrorist,’ I took out my phone and recorded again,» she said.
Later that night, Sabina uploaded the video to TikTok, where it went viral. Due to the attention, she was advised to file a police report.
Sabina stated that she had also undergone a medical examination. She said evidence of the assault was captured by the bus or bus stop CCTV.
«Because the viral video reached his account, he reached out to me, willing to be a witness,» she said.
She learned that several individuals, including bus and station staff, the TransJ route coordinator, and other passengers who witnessed the incident, were summoned by the police to testify.
Assault and Defamation Complaint
Previously, authorities confirmed receiving a report regarding the assault and verbal abuse of the female TransJ passenger.
«We received the police report, which includes complaints of minor assault and/or defamation under Article 352 and/or Article 315 of the Criminal Code,» said the Head of Criminal Investigation at Grogol Petamburan Police.
The victim underwent a medical examination after the incident. Police also coordinated with TransJakarta to review surveillance footage from the scene.
«We haven’t found other witnesses at the scene, except for the TransJakarta staff who separated them. We
