Indonesia junior high school teacher named suspect in death of student testing 3D-printed rifle

JAKARTA - Police in Siak regency, Riau, have named a female teacher at Sains Tahfiz Islamic Center junior high school as a suspect of negligence in a case of a student who died while testing a 3D-printed rifle for a science project.

Siak police chief Sepuh Ade Irsyam Siregar said detectives found that the teacher, identified as IP, was negligent and could be charged with Article 474 Clause 3 of the 2023 Criminal Code which regulates negligence causing the loss of someone’s life.

He said the Article comes with a punishment of five years’ jail or a 500 million rupiah (S$37,000) fine.

The suspect is a teacher responsible for accompanying the students during the examination, he said on April 15. However, she did not prevent the student from demonstrating the use of the rifle.

The incident took place on April 8 at around 10.30am during a practical examination dubbed “Science Show”, which was held at the school’s field in Kampung Rempak subdistrict.

During the exam, five groups of nine students were taking turns to showcase their scientific projects. When it was the turn of the victim’s group, the victim took the lead to demonstrate the rifle, dubbed “Musketeer Gun”.

The victim and his group had been working on a 3D-printed rifle. He had created the rifle on his own with a laptop and 3D printer. He used materials such as plastic, iron and chemical substances that he bought from an online marketplace with 200,000 rupiah in funds from his group.

Before the exam, the rifle had never been taken to the school and the victim said it had been tested and was safe. However, he asked his teammates to stand back as he started the demonstration.

When he fired the rifle, it emitted a puff of smoke and then exploded with a loud bang. Shrapnel flew in all directions, some of which hit the victim’s forehead. He was immediately taken to Siak General Hospital, but died there.

“Based on investigations and the collected evidence, we concluded that IP had been negligent... the suspect already knew that the science project involved a device which could cause an explosion,” Mr Sepuh said.

“The victim had even explained the project and how it works before the demonstration. But she still allowed the practicum to go on,” he said, adding that educational activities involving experiments should always prioritise safety.

Meanwhile, Siak Police Crimes Investigation (Reskrim) Unit chief Raja Kosmos Parmulais said detectives have questioned 16 witnesses – six students, six teachers, a forensic doctor, and three others.

Detectives also confiscated several pieces of evidence, such as an A1 Bambulab 3D printer, fragments of the 3D-printed rifle consisting of rifle stock and barrel, two black iron rods measuring 70.5cm and 81cm long, black powder in a plastic container, four mosquito repellents, eight green wicks, 60 iron balls, and a matchstick.

“We have sent some of them to the Riau Police forensic laboratory for further examination,” Mr Raja said.

He said a post-mortem on the victim confirmed the cause of death to be from “wounds caused by shrapnel” from the exploding device.

Meanwhile, IP has not been detained although she has been named a suspect. One of the reasons is that investigations are still ongoing, Mr Raja said.

“Besides, the suspect has been very cooperative during the investigation process, so we don’t need to detain her.”

Separately, Siak Police head of Women’s and Chidren’s Protection Unit, Second Inspector Andreas Silaban, said his team has accompanied the underage student witnesses.

“We have provided trauma healing sessions for the witnesses who have been impacted psychologically by the incident,” he said. THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK