An Indonesian businessman who humiliated a teenager by forcing him to “bark like a dog” in an incident caught in a viral video has been charged under child protection laws following a public outcry over alleged corruption.
The incident began when Ivan Sugianto, a businessman in his 40s, confronted 16-year-old Ethan outside his school in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, on October 21. Accompanied by bodyguards, Ivan accused Ethan of calling his son a “poodle” during a basketball game and demanded an apology.
According to an account told to local journalists by Ethan’s mother, Ira Maria, Ivan then forced Ethan to prostrate himself on the ground and “bark like a dog”.
I let my son endure public humiliation
“I was so scared for my son and myself because [Ivan] had rough-looking thugs with him that I let my son endure public humiliation,” Ira recounted.
She said she thought the matter was settled but Ivan still demanded a formal apology by way of a recorded video and a notarised written statement, which she and her husband rejected outright.
Days later, a video of what had transpired outside the school gates – a legally underage teenager being publicly humiliated by a grown man – went viral on social media, prompting instant outrage from Indonesian online users.
“Our family still tried to show good faith by agreeing to another meeting with Ivan, mediated by the school headmaster,” Ira said. She decided to speak up after the video went viral, and she knew public opinion was on her side, adding that Ivan continued to berate her son and forced him to “grovel like a dog”.
