Teacher Convicted of Sexual Abuse Was Quietly Freed Early in Indonesia, BBC Finds
An Indonesian teacher convicted of sexually assaulting a student at an Islamic boarding school was quietly released from prison early, according to a BBC Eye investigation, raising new questions about accountability and the power of religious institutions in the country.
Moch Subchi Azal Tsani, widely known as Bechi, is the son of an influential Islamic religious leader. His trial shocked Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation where millions of families send their children to Islamic boarding schools, known locally as pesantren.
He was arrested in 2022 at his father's school in East Java, where he had taught, after a 15-hour siege involving nearly 1,000 riot police. Supporters of his family had gathered in large numbers to block the arrest. He was sentenced to seven years in prison later that year.
The government withdrew the school's operating license, but then-President Joko Widodo intervened to keep it open, arguing that the case involved an individual rather than the institution.
The BBC investigation has uncovered further allegations against Bechi, 46, and evidence suggesting that the school and his family tried to suppress them.
His release comes as the National Commission on Violence against Women warns of an “emergency” of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools. The commission says the power of religious leaders has shielded these schools from oversight and consequences, while discouraging students from reporting abuse.
Several female students accused Bechi of abuse and rape, but only one pursued a legal case that led to his conviction. Her identity has never been made public.
Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence of 16 years for rape. The court found Bechi not guilty of rape and convicted him on the lesser charge of sexual assault.
Undercover footage recorded by the BBC now shows that he was released after serving less than half of his sentence.
Bechi would have been eligible for parole around March 2027, or he would have been released at the end of his sentence in 2029.
Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections told the BBC that Bechi was released in August 2025 because of “sentence remissions granted to him in accordance with applicable regulations.” The ministry said it could not explain why his sentence was reduced.
Ira Puspitasari was another student who testified at the trial, but her allegations did not lead to separate charges. She waived her legal right to anonymity to speak publicly about the case for the first time.
“I was treated as his slave. I was held captive, raped, beaten,” she said. “I can never forget what he said to me: ‘Don't you realize you're just my slave?’”
After watching the undercover footage of Bechi smiling and greeting supporters at an event in March, she began to cry. “It's like nothing ever happened,” she said.
Ira told the BBC she was raped and sexually abused by Bechi for more than four years, starting when she was 15. She said she tried to run away, but Bechi's private security guards tracked her down, kidnapped her and took her to a secluded hut, where he tortured and raped her. She said she was then expelled from the school.
She said she reported the abuse to police but was intimidated into withdrawing her report. She shared an audio recording with the BBC in which Bechi's mother tells her to say that “nothing had happened.”
In January, after hearing that Bechi may have been released early, BBC undercover reporters attended an annual prayer event at the Shiddiqiyyah Islamic boarding school in East Java.
The reporters saw Bechi wearing a mask and sitting beside his father. Just before he appeared on stage, filming and photography were prohibited, a marked change from previous years.
Then in March, BBC reporters again captured Bechi on hidden camera at another prayer event for Eid at his family home, located in the same compound as the school.
The BBC sought comment from Bechi, his mother and the Shiddiqiyyah school. There has been no response.
The students who testified, including the girl Bechi was convicted of sexually assaulting, were placed under witness protection. Indonesian law requires them to be informed of his release.
But they were not informed, Ira and another former student who testified told the BBC. They were stunned by the undercover footage because they believed Bechi was still in prison.
The ministry said victims did not need to be informed because Bechi remains on parole. The witness protection agency disputed that, saying victims must still be notified.
Ayu Masuroh says she was never abused by Bechi, but she began investigating the allegations after hearing about them from schoolmates. She lives close to the school and says she is frightened that Bechi is out of prison.
“He hates me. His supporters have threatened to kill me many times. I will never feel safe here. I don't feel safe living in Indonesia,” she said.
Speaking publicly for the first time, she told the BBC she collected testimony from at least 10 other female students, all of whom alleged that Bechi sexually assaulted or raped them.
According to Ayu, some of the students said Bechi told them they were “chosen.” One said Bechi raped her after calling her for a “personal interview.”
Those accounts were part of the closed-door trial, which alleged years of abuse at the school, according to court records seen by the BBC.
Ira and Ayu both testified at Bechi's trial and said they did not know he had been released early until they saw the BBC footage.
Nun Sayuti, a former lawyer for the school who later left and began supporting the students, said he was “deeply disappointed” by Bechi's early release, calling it a “violation of victims' rights. They went through a long and difficult legal process to bring this case to light.”
He also testified at trial. He told the court that when the rape allegations first surfaced, Bechi ordered him to make them go away. But when he started investigating the claims, he said he realized he was defending the wrong side and “knew I had to take a stand.”
Nun then began collecting evidence and, before leaving the school, secretly recorded Bechi boasting. In the recording, which the BBC has heard, Bechi says: “In my position, I can have my way with anyone I want.”
The cases that have come to light across Indonesia in recent years may be just the “tip of the iceberg,” the commission on violence against women, known as Komnas Perempuan, warned in a statement in May.
Students in many schools are unable to report abuse because of inadequate protection mechanisms, it said. The commission called on the government to strengthen oversight and impose stronger penalties so that religious leaders cannot exercise unchecked power.
The case highlights a broader tension in Indonesia: Islamic boarding schools are trusted by millions of families, yet allegations of abuse often run into a wall of deference toward religious leaders and fear of reprisals. Advocates say that combination makes reporting abuse especially difficult, particularly when the accused is connected to powerful figures.
Bechi's case is one of Indonesia's most high-profile sexual abuse scandals, given the political influence his father wields.
Kiai Muchtar Mu'thi combines Islamic teachings with a strong emphasis on Indonesian nationalism, and the school he owns in East Java is part of a wider complex with thousands of loyal followers.
Bechi had been teaching at the school for at least a decade when he was arrested in 2022 despite public opposition.
Hundreds of students and supporters gathered behind the gates of the school to prevent police from entering. They stood shoulder to shoulder, raised their fists and chanted that they were prepared to defend the school “with body and soul.”
Over the years, Muchtar and his school, as well as the Shiddiqiyyah complex it sits in, have drawn public figures looking for support in what is a key political battleground.
In 2014, then-presidential candidate Joko Widodo visited during his political campaign. Five years later, his successor, Prabowo Subianto, did the same.
Indonesia's national police chief visited the school and met Muchtar in August last year, saying he wanted to forge closer ties with Shiddiqiyyah.
It was the family's connections and clout that Ira says persuaded her to withdraw her allegations against Bechi.
“I was terrified,” she told the BBC, adding that the pressure escalated as his supporters began giving her death threats.
In June 2018, Ira and her father were summoned to a hotel near the school, she says, where she met Bechi's mother, Nyai Shofwatul Ummah.
Ira secretly recorded their conversation and shared it with the BBC. In it, Bechi's mother says that her son had “made mistakes, perhaps in his relationship with Ira. So I apologize.”
She then urges Ira to withdraw her police report. “Nothing happened, it's only family business,” she tells her.
Ira says that fearing for her safety, she signed a statement retracting her allegations, which she now regrets.
When the case went to trial, Ira says she was questioned for hours, where they “asked these really probing questions — very painful questions. I told the court everything.”
Now watching the footage of Bechi out of prison, she says, “it feels as if he has won and I've lost.”
“It's very important the world knows. It's true. He is free. It's just a complete mockery of the law.”
Viewers in the UK can watch Catching My Teacher on iPlayer from 12:00 BST or on Global Eye on BBC Two at 19:00 BST. Outside the UK, watch on YouTube.