The internet allows people to communicate through the distance. And with smartphones in almost everyone's pockets, communication has never been easier.
And among the many things people could do through social platforms and messaging apps, include arranging online prostitutions.
This time, another case of online prostitution involving a celebrity has happened in Indonesia.
It's reported that an Instagram influencer with the initial TE, has been arrested in a hotel room in Semarang, Central Java.
TE who is said to be a former soap opera star, was caught for selling her services as a prostitute.
For one night, the 26-year-old woman offered her services for Rp 25 million (≈$1,700).
At the same time, the police also arrested another woman, a Brazilian with the initial FBD, and a pimp with the initial JB who provided all the necessities.
"The pimp's modus operandi is to employ people into commercial sex workers at a rate of Rp 25 million," said Djuhandani Rahardjo Puro, a spokesperson for the Central Java Police, adding that the pimp received Rp 13 million from each woman.
The two women were caught in two different locations.
The prostitution caught the attention of the authorities, after the police received a heads up about the case from the airport.
After an investigation, the police found the locations of the two women, and quickly dispatched a team.
When the police arrived at the location where the Instagram influencer was at, bottles of alcoholic drinks were found, two smartphones were on the bed, a sum of money, as well a number of new and used condoms.
"Likewise, the Brazil woman was also [caught while] having sex," said Djuhandani.
The police managed to arrive at the two locations and caught the two women in action, without having the pimp alerted.
After holding the two woman under custody, the police found the pimp in a nearby location and also arrested him.
Investigation found that JB received inquiries on December 10th, 2021. And it was JB's job as a pimp to have TE and FBD meet their clients.
"We make the proof of the transfer as evidence. The transfer has been used to accommodate the prostitutes who were brought from Jakarta," the spokesperson said.
Prostitution in Indonesia is widely practiced, tolerated and even regulated in some areas. But in the country that is mostly Muslims, prostitution is also legally considered a "crime against decency/morality."
If proven guilty, JB can be charged with the criminal act of people-trafficking, with sentence that range from 3-5 years in prison, and a fine of Rp 120 million or Rp 600 million.
TE was later revealed as Tisya Erni, a woman who was also a model and a singer. She also has a YouTube channel, where she cover songs from other musicians.
Due to the news that became viral, Indonesian netizens started visiting Tisya's Instagram profile and made comments on her posts.
Tisya temporarily disabled the comment feature on her verified account because of this.
It is then reported that TE and JB were acquaintances, and that JB only offered TE's services to men he knows.
As for FBD, the woman from Brazil has been in Indonesia since 2017 with a work visa. The disk jockey working in Bali is a victim of JB, just TE. It is said that the two women were offered a chance to earn huge sum of money for their one-night stands.
The police does not provide her identities other than her initial.
Before Tisya, a number of Indonesian women were also caught in online prostitution cases, including Vanessa Angel, who died in a car accident on November 4th, 2021.
