Teacher who sexually abused pupil back in Indonesia jail after BBC investigation

ByEndang Nurdin and Rebecca Henschke, BBC Eye and BBC News Indonesia.

Key points

• Bechi is the son of prominent Islamic cleric Muhammad Mukhtar Mu'thi, founder of the Shiddiqiyyah Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java.
• After serving less than half his sentence, a BBC Eye undercover investigation made public he was secretly issued on parole in August 2025.
• Immigration and Corrections Minister Agus Andrianto informed the BBC that those responsible for approving Bechi's parole "will certainly face sanctions".
• He was arrested in 2022 after a 15-hour police siege at the school, where supporters had gathered to prevent his arrest.
• The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections previously informed the BBC that Bechi was issued since of sentence reductions granted in accordance with regulations.

Notably, a former teacher who sexually assaulted a student has been returned to jail in Indonesia after a BBC investigation made public he was secretly issued early.

Mochamad Subchi Azal Tsani, known as Bechi, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2022 after being convicted of sexually assaulting a female student at his father's prominent Islamic boarding school in East Java, where he worked as a teacher.

After serving less than half his sentence, a BBC Eye undercover investigation made public he was secretly issued on parole in August 2025. The woman he had been convicted of assaulting had not been informed – despite her legal right to know. On hearing he was back in prison, she cried with relief.

"I pray that this doesn't happen to anyone else and that, going forward, the law will be applied justly in Indonesia, " the former student. This person wished to remain anonymous, informed the BBC.

For context, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections previously informed the BBC that Bechi was issued since of sentence reductions granted in accordance with regulations.

After which the administration unveiled a comprehensive review, but the BBC investigation sparked a public outcry and led to calls from lawmakers for an investigation.

That review discovered "errors" resulting in Bechi's parole being revoked. He has now been returned to prison.

"We want to make sure that such mistakes or irregularities do not happen again, " he remarked.

For Ira Puspitasari, one of a number of former students who accused Bechi of sexual abuse and testified at his trial, the decision is a vindication.

"I'm amazed, really. I didn't expect the administration would pay such detailed attention to this case and really pay attention to us, the victims, " she stated.

Ira, who has waived her legal right to anonymity, informed the BBC she was raped and sexually abused by Bechi for more than four years, from the age of 15.

"I was treated as his slave. I was held captive, raped, beaten, " she remarked.

She remarked she tried to run away but Bechi's private security guards tracked her down, kidnapped her and took her to a secluded hut, where Bechi tortured and raped her.

She remarked she noted all of this to the police but was then intimidated into withdrawing her complaint. She additionally shared an audio recording of Bechi's mother telling her to say that "nothing had happened".

Outside the UK, you can watch Catching My Teacher on YouTube, external.

When he should still have been in prison, Ira became tearful, watching BBC undercover footage of Bechi smiling and greeting supporters at an event in March. "It's like nothing ever happened, " she remarked.

Ira was invited to a parliamentary hearing this week into the state's handling of sexual abuse cases in religious and educational institutions, held in response to the BBC's investigation.

Lawyer Joko Jumadi, who has represented a number of victims of abuse in educational institutions, additionally addressed the hearing and noted authorities were often reluctant to investigate allegations of abuse as they involved "influential religious figures who have large followings".

He informed the hearing that he regularly faced threats and intimidation as of taking on such cases.

Prosecutors had sought a longer sentence after Bechi was accused of rape by a number of students, but he was acquitted of the rape charges and convicted of the lesser sexual assault offence of one student.

In practice, the BBC sought comment from Bechi, his mother and the Shiddiqiyyah boarding school as part of its investigation but received no response.

In short, teacher who sexually abused pupil back in Indonesia jail after BBC investigation is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.