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Prita laments lost quality time with her children

Prita Mulyasari, who was imprisoned for three weeks at the Tangerang Women Penitentiary for defamation allegations - after complaining over the Internet about allegedly substandard hospital service in Tangerang - has noticed many changes in her two children since she returned home

Multa Fidrus (The Jakarta Post)
Tangerang
Mon, June 8, 2009 Published on Jun. 8, 2009 Published on 2009-06-08T11:11:09+07:00

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Prita Mulyasari, who was imprisoned for three weeks at the Tangerang Women Penitentiary for defamation allegations - after complaining over the Internet about allegedly substandard hospital service in Tangerang - has noticed many changes in her two children since she returned home.

"I have to reacquaint myself again with the way my children speak, because I am no longer familiar with a number of words they are now speaking," Prita said Saturday at her house in Pondok Aren, Tangerang.

Prita was separated from her three-year-old son Khairan Ananta and 13-month-old daughter Ranariya Puandita for the entire the length of her detention, from May 13 until she was released Wednesday following public pressure.

Prita said she missed out on numerous special moments with her children during her three-week detention and therefore had to learn about her children's progress mostly from her housemaid.

"I have been home for three days and found I could not understand several words my children uttered," she said.

*Kuburan' is one of the words she heard Khairan pronounce for the first time in front of her while pointing to the television screen in the living room.

The little boy directed his forefinger toward a group of people wearing strange makeup and dresses on a TV station.

Prita said she was a little bit surprised with the progress her son had made during her absence. Apparently, her son was referring to a music group called Kuburan (cemetery).

"I finally understood that Khairan likes the music group," Prita said.

Prita also heard her daughter Ranariya say words she had never heard her use before.

Prita lamented that during her absence, her two children learned a number of inappropriate words children of their ages should not use yet.

"I guess this happened because they watched endless hours of TV, then tried to imitate the words they heard on TV programs," she said, adding she never let her children watch TV without her.

Prita, who usually reads novels in her spare time, said she had never heard inappropriate words coming from her children's mouth, as she would immediately switch channels every time she saw inappropriate TV content. Now that she is back home, she steers them away from adult songs, teaching them children songs better suited to their ages.

Prita was also taken by surprise - after she came home following the detention - when her daughter Ranariya, who was still crawling the last time she saw her, had learned how to stand and even run.

Prita spent three weeks in prison after being accused of defamation by Omni International Hospital in Serpong. She was separated from Khairan and Ranariya, and therefore unable to breast feed her youngest child Ranariya.

Her story created a buzz over the Internet, with support pouring in through blogs and a Facebook cause, garnering over 220,000 supporters as of Sunday afternoon. She also received support from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the Consumers Foundation, Legal Aid Institutes, presidential hopefuls Megawati Soekarnoputri and incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Prita's Aug. 15, 2008 email - titled Penipuan (fraud by) Omni International Hospital Alam Sutera Tangerang - revealed her disappointment over the hospital.

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