Indonesian headmaster detained after BBC investigation into sexual abuse allegations

Ahmad Imanuddin Sumar ran Abul Barokat, an Islamic boarding school on the Indonesian island of Lombok, where students called him Abah. He is now detained as a suspect in a sexual abuse investigation, named after a BBC World Service report that detailed how former students had spent years gathering evidence of allegations against him—work that ultimately prompted police to reopen a dormant case.

The investigation began when Ziadatur Rahmah, known as Zia, confided in a former classmate named Yusron Azzahidi that Sumar had sexually assaulted her when she was seventeen. At the time, Zia was studying in Cairo and Yusron was in Jakarta. Rather than let the allegation sit, Yusron suggested they collect evidence. They reached out to other former students and spoke with Sukma Rohana Fajar, who said Sumar had attempted to rape her at the school. Both Zia and Sukma had been high-achieving students. Yusron compiled a seven-page document laying out the allegations and presented it to representatives of Nahdlatul Wathan Diniyah Islamiyah, the organization that operated the school. The students expected institutional support. Instead, they say they were pressured to recant.

What happened next became the backbone of the BBC's reporting. In a secretly recorded phone call, Sumar asked Yusron to protect his reputation. "Cover the shame of your teacher. Everyone makes mistakes, my child," he said. Sumar also called Zia directly, and she recorded that conversation too. In the recording, he apologized but pleaded with her to stay silent. Sukma later recorded a conversation with Sumar's wife, known to students as Umi, in which Umi explained that a document Sukma had been forced to sign—one recanting her allegations—was meant to shield "her good name." When the BBC contacted Sumar and his wife during its investigation, neither responded.

At a news conference following the BBC's publication, Sumar denied all allegations. He did not dispute that his voice appeared in the recordings but claimed they were not confessions. The school's organization, NWDI, denied attempting to cover anything up, saying it had a duty to protect itself from being damaged by the actions of individuals. It also said it was investigating the allegations internally and would now work to prevent such abuse and safeguard students who came forward.

The publication of the BBC investigation triggered an immediate response. Parents began arriving at the school to collect their children, some traveling from other islands. One mother said she wept when she learned the news and removed her daughter immediately. The response from former students was overwhelming. Zia and Yusron, who had recently married, found themselves contacted constantly—through Instagram, WhatsApp, direct messages—by people saying they too had been victimized. "It was beyond what we expected," Yusron said. "So many people contacted us."

Within days, twelve additional former students came forward with their own abuse allegations. Police interviewed all of them alongside Zia and Sukma. For many of these students, learning they were not alone was jarring. Zia reflected on this: "They thought they were the only ones—and it's been really shocking for them to learn, like I did, that they weren't alone." Sukma said she felt relief that the allegations were finally being treated with seriousness. "It's not about revenge," she told the BBC. "It's more the acknowledgement that what he did was wrong. I'm waiting for the day when he admits that himself."

Sumar has resigned from the school and said he will comply with the legal process. The case now rests with police and the courts, but the groundwork was laid by students who refused to let their allegations disappear into silence—who documented, recorded, and persisted until the system had no choice but to listen.