Five Indonesian schoolgirls have been expelled from school and are facing criminal charges after making a video of themselves dancing to a pop song mixed with Islamic prayer movements.The students from the island of Sulawesi, recorded themselves dancing to the Maroon 5's song One More Night. They were allegedly inspired by the popularity of the Harlem Shake flash mobs. They now face time in juvenile detention for "tainting religion" after the video wemt viral on the internet.
Reports say the five girls were trying to kill time during an hour-long break from classes on the afternoon of March 9 when they made the video. On March 29, a man reportedly told his wife, a teacher at the school, that he saw people watching the video at a market. She then told the school.
The head teacher of the school said he decided to report the girls to police after consulting with Indonesia's top Islamic clerical body, the Ulema Council, and the Islamic Defenders Front. He said, "The students were performing Sholat [prayer] movement with dancing while alternately reciting [the] Koran and turning on One More Night. The activity was recorded with a mobile phone of one of the students."
As well as expulsion from their school, the students were forbidden from taking last week's high school national exam, which counts for 60% of a the final score that determines whether or not they graduate from high school.
The girls were first questioned by police on April 3. Adj Comr Alhajat, the local chief of detectives, said that the five girls were charged with blasphemy against religion. They were not detained in custody, but Mr Alhajat said they could face further charges as the case progresses, although they are being treated as minors.
Blasphemy in Indonesia carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.