Miss Universe Indonesia Contestants Allegedly Told to Strip Naked in A Ballroom

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Miss Universe Indonesia is currently under fire for allegedly sexally harrassing contentants during the body checking. As many as 30 contents were told to get naked together for the inspection, resulting in the feeling of humiliation. The incident took place in Jakarta on August 1. 

One of the Miss Universe Indonesia contestants said that body checking was not on the agenda. The contestants were told to get naked at the ballroom of Sari Pacific Hotel, Central Jakarta. 

The lawyer for six of the contestants, Mellisa Anggraini, said the incident made the women feel harassed, uncomfortable, and upset because their values as women were not respected.

"If one wanted to do body checking, then said it beforehand," said Mellisa, "and did it in a proper way, not in a random place."

Mellisa also said there was no privacy at all during the body checking and pointed out the existence of CCTV in the area. According to her, the women were only covered by "banner" and "clothes hanger". Mellisa and her clients took legal action against the company Capella Swastika Karya, which organized the Miss Universe Indonesia, for allegedly violating Sexual Violence Acts. 

On Thursday, Jakarta police said they already visited the hotel to see the location. The police said the body checking location was in the corner of the room and covered with something like a portable curtain.

The Miss Universe Indonesia contest for 2023 was already finished with the half-Dutch model Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld crowned as the winner.

On their official Instagram account, the Miss Universe released the statement regarding the alleged incident. 

The statement, published on Instagram stories, said that Miss Universe was "recently made aware of the allegations regarding the 2023 MISS UNIVERSE Indonesia competition and franchisee in Indonesia that operates the pageant."

"Miss Universe takes allegations of sexual abuse and impropriety extremely seriously," the statement continued. 

And then Miss Universe posted stories about trivia of Chile. 

The Instagram users from Indonesia were also protesting Miss Universe's latest photo on Instagram. One of the female netizens expressed her disappointment because Miss Universe seemingly cares more about profits.

 

 

 

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Indonesia's Minister for Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Bintang Puspayoga, also criticized the Miss Universe Indonesia's incident. She believes the victims were indeed violated. 

"I've heard the entire chronology of the event," she said in her statement. "We are surely disappointed at this alleged sexual harassment case which by the organizer was named as body checking process. I have communicated this to Mr. Head of Indonesian Police and I conveyed that this case must be supervised until the end."

Nila Chrisna Yulika, Wayang Diananto, and Henry contributed to this report.