The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It took neurosurgeons at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Central Jakarta, two hours Wednesday to extract a three-centimeter-long rusty nail from a toddler's head.
The mother of 22-month-old Alexander Jorgi Siagian allegedly hammered the nail into the back of his head last Saturday.
""His current condition is quite good,"" hospital spokeswoman Poniwati Yacub said.
His uncle, Ucok Sihar, 33, hoped the boy would recover soon.
""I hope Alex can pull through this critical period by tomorrow morning.""
Renta Lumbanbatu, 28, a mother of three, allegedly drove the nail into the head of her youngest son, Alexander, in their house on Jl. Sonokeling, Depok.
Earlier she had reportedly driven two rusty nails into her own head.
Her husband's cousin, Imelda Simatupang, who happened to visit the house just after the incident, said Renta's two daughters had been crying hysterically when she arrived. Imelda reported the incident to the neighbors and Renta's husband, Belsing Heschiel Siagian, 41, a security guard.
Police arrived at the scene and took the boy to Hermina Hospital in Depok. From there he was transferred to Pasar Rebo general hospital in East Jakarta, which recommended he be taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital on Sunday.
Renta was first taken to Warsito Hospital in Depok, and then to Sentra Medika Hospital, also in Depok, before being moved to RSCM where she shared a room with Alexander.
On Tuesday, Renta was moved into the hospital's psychiatric ward.
She had been able to take the nails out of her head herself because they had only gone half a centimeter in, whereas the three-centimeter-long nail in Alexander's head had gone in almost all the way.
Ucok said the boy's operation had been postponed for three days because his mother kept giving him food, even though she knew he needed to have an empty stomach for the procedure.
He told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that Belsing was still arranging to get a poor card, which would greatly reduce the hospital bills.
It has been reported in the media -- mostly quoting relatives and neighbors -- that in the last few months, Renta had shown signs of being ""psychologically disturbed"", a state that was allegedly triggered by Belsing beating her. Belsing says she often hit the children.
She had also reportedly been ""acting strangely"", shaving her head and the heads of her three children.
Renta and Belsing, together with their three children, Alex, Putri Siagian, 5, and Gaby Siagian, 3, had been living in a three-by-seven meter house on Jl. Sonokeling for only about a week when the incident happened.
Belsing, who rents the house for Rp 250,000 a month, works as a security guard in a shopping mall with a monthly salary of Rp 1 million. In the past few months he had only been getting Rp 600,000 as he owes his employers Rp 4 million.
The family previously moved from one place to another, including in Citayam, Margonda, and under the Jatinegara flyover, in East Jakarta. (07)
