JAKARTA – The father of Reynhard Sinaga, the Indonesian man named as Britain’s worst rapist and was jailed for life by the UK court earlier this week, said his son’s punishment “fits his crimes.”

“We accept the verdict. His punishment fits his crimes. I don’t want to discuss the case any further,” Mr Saibun Sinaga told BBC Indonesia.

Reynhard, 36, was sentenced on Monday (Jan 6) to life in prison after he was found guilty of 159 offences over a period of more than 2 1/2 years. He must serve a minimum of 30 years in jail.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has called him “the worst-known sex offender in the country’s history” for the assault or rape of at least 195 men and for attacking “scores more” since moving to Britain as a student in 2007, AFP reports.

Reynhard is believed to have used different ruses – offering a place to wait for friends, or to charge a mobile phone – to lure his victims to his apartment. Most of them were in their late teens or early 20s, and had been out drinking before he approached them in the streets.

Many of his victims recalled that he gave them a drink – which he once described in a WhatsApp group with friends as “secret poison” – when they went to his flat. He raped them after they passed out, filming the abuses on his two mobile phones.

Police believe Reynhard, who was arrested on June 2, 2017, would have carried on had one victim not woken up during an attack and called 999.

The BBC reported that Reynhard’s mother was the only family member that attended one of his pre-trial hearings. She also wrote a character witness statement, which was presented to a court as part of his defence.

The case has shocked many in Reynhard’s home country of Indonesia, where homosexuality is still a taboo. Many condemned the abuses as evil and depraved.

The University of Indonesia, which confirmed that Reynhard is an alumnus, condemned his acts as “insolent, illegal and inhumane” and expressed its sympathy to the victims of his assaults.

According to The Jakarta Post, Reynhard was born in Jambi but his last name Sinaga is a marga or clan name of the Batak people of North Sumatra.

Mr Lamsiang Sitompul, the chairman of the Horas Bangso Batak community, said that Reynhard’s actions had hurt and shamed the Batak community and that his crimes made it seem like the Batak people were sexual deviants.

“That is not true, and honestly we are very ashamed of Reynhard Sinaga’s actions. His actions do not reflect the behavior of Batak people,” Mr Lamsiang told The Jakarta Post in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday.

Mr Lamsiang said that news of Reynhard’s conviction had spread among the Batak community in Indonesia and people related to him felt shame and embarrassment.

“We are all shocked and in disbelief that Reynhard would do that, since he is an educated person,” he said, adding that the community was nevertheless confident that the legal process in the UK was fair and just.

“We leave (the case) to the legal process in the UK. We believe that everything will go on fairly.”

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