A months-long undercover investigation by BBC Eye has pulled back the curtain on a deeply troubling injustice in Indonesia: a high-profile teacher convicted of sexual assault against a student at an elite Islamic boarding school has been quietly released from prison years ahead of his scheduled release date, leaving survivors and advocates reeling and exposing critical gaps in the country’s handling of sexual violence in religious institutions.
The convicted man, Moch Subchi Azal Tsani, widely known as Bechi, is the son of Kiai Muchtar Mu’thi, one of Indonesia’s most influential Islamic religious leaders whose East Java-based Shiddiqiyyah boarding school draws thousands of loyal followers and has long courted connections to the country’s top political figures. Bechi’s 2022 arrest and subsequent conviction sent shockwaves across the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, where millions of families entrust Islamic boarding schools with educating and housing their children.
The 2022 arrest operation was unprecedented in its scale: nearly 1,000 riot police were deployed to the school compound, where hundreds of Bechi’s supporters had gathered in a 15-hour siege to block law enforcement from taking him into custody. By the end of that year, a court convicted Bechi of sexual assault, though he was acquitted of the more severe charge of rape despite multiple allegations from former students; prosecutors had pushed for a 16-year maximum sentence, but the court ultimately handed down a seven-year prison term. Shortly after the conviction, Indonesian authorities revoked Shiddiqiyyah’s operating license, but then-President Joko Widodo personally intervened to reverse the decision, arguing that the wrongdoing was tied to Bechi as an individual, not the institution itself.
The BBC’s new investigation has uncovered far more than just Bechi’s early release: it reveals a years-long pattern of institutional and family efforts to cover up widespread allegations of abuse, with at least 11 former students coming forward to claim they experienced sexual assault or rape at Bechi’s hands. Only one of these survivors chose to pursue a legal claim that led to Bechi’s conviction, and she has remained anonymous to protect her safety.
For the first time, another survivor, Ira Puspitasari, has waived her right to anonymity to speak publicly about the abuse she endured. Now, she is speaking out about the shock of seeing Bechi free after decades of silence and trauma. Ira told the BBC she was 15 when Bechi began raping and abusing her repeatedly over more than four years. She described being treated as Bechi’s personal slave, recalled an attempt to escape that ended with Bechi’s private security forces kidnapping her, holding her in a secluded hut, and torturing her before she was ultimately expelled from the school. After reporting the abuse to police, she was intimidated into withdrawing her statement; the BBC has obtained audio of Bechi’s mother urging her to recant, framing the abuse as a private family matter and claiming nothing improper occurred. Even after she reaffirmed her testimony during the trial, the news of Bechi’s early release has left her feeling betrayed by the justice system.
“It feels as if he has won and I’ve lost,” Ira told BBC reporters after watching undercover footage of Bechi smiling and greeting supporters at a public event earlier this year. “It’s just a complete mockery of the law.”
Undercover BBC reporters first spotted Bechi in January 2025 at the school’s annual prayer gathering, where he wore a face mask and sat beside his father just off stage; organizers abruptly banned all photography and video moments before he appeared, a sharp break from previous years’ events. Reporters later captured him on hidden camera at an Eid prayer event held at his family’s compound, which is attached to the school, in March 2025. When the BBC reached out to Bechi, his mother, and school leadership for comment on its findings, no party responded.
Indonesian prison authorities confirmed to the BBC that Bechi was released in August 2025, attributing the early release to sentence reductions granted under existing regulations. They declined to provide further details explaining why the reductions were approved. Court records indicate Bechi would not have been eligible for parole until 2027, and would have completed his full sentence only in 2029; he has served less than half of his original seven-year term.
Worse, survivors and witnesses who testified against Bechi were never notified of his release, despite Indonesian legal requirements that protected witnesses receive this information. Indonesia’s Ministry of Immigration and Corrections has claimed that notification was not required because Bechi remains on parole, but the country’s witness protection agency has disputed this claim, confirming legal obligations require notification regardless of parole status. Ayu Masuroh, a local activist who gathered more than 10 additional survivor testimonies after learning of abuse allegations from classmates, says she lives in constant fear of retribution now that Bechi is free. “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 told the BBC.
Nun Sayuti, a former lawyer for the school who ultimately switched sides after investigating the allegations and testified for the prosecution at trial, called the early release a blatant violation of survivors’ rights. The former lawyer, who secretly recorded Bechi boasting “In my position, I can have my way with anyone I want,” said he was deeply disappointed by the decision, noting survivors went through years of intimidation and trauma to hold Bechi accountable.
The disclosure of Bechi’s early release comes as Indonesia’s National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has warned that the country is facing an “emergency” of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools. The commission argues that the outsized political and social power of religious leaders shields these institutions from adequate oversight and legal accountability, while creating a culture of silence that discourages survivors from reporting abuse. In a May 2025 statement, the commission noted that the cases already made public are likely just the “tip of the iceberg,” with most survivors unable to come forward due to inadequate protection systems. The group has called for sweeping reforms to strengthen government oversight, increase penalties for offenders, and break the culture of unaccountable power held by religious leadership.
Bechi’s case is particularly high-profile because of his family’s deep political connections. Both former President Joko Widodo and current President Prabowo Subianto have visited the school during political campaigns to court the support of Muchtar’s large base of followers. As recently as August 2024, Indonesia’s national police chief visited the school and met with Muchtar to announce plans to build closer ties between law enforcement and the institution. For survivors like Ira, it is precisely this level of influence that allowed Bechi to secure an early, unpublicized release – and that has left them feeling abandoned by the system they trusted to deliver justice.
