Boy faces 2.5 years in prison for stealing flowers

After a juvenile thief in Central Sulawesi had recently been reported and charged for stealing a sandal, another boy, in East Nusa Tenggara, is facing two and a half years imprisonment, this time for stealing flowers in a garden, a prosecutor says.

“The defendant was reported by his foster mother for stealing flowers and selling it to someone,” So'e Prosecutors office investigator Ahmad Bayadi said Friday, as quoted by tempo.co.

He said that 16-year-old Foni Nubatonis pulled addendum flowers from a pot in a garden at the house of foster mother Sonya and sold them to a neighbor for Rp 10,000 each.

“Eight flowers were sold in total, which gained him Rp 80,000,” he said.

He added that Sonya, who fostered Foni to have him help with household chores, felt that the boy’s action had cost her millions of rupiah.

“The total amount of losses suffered by the victim is estimated to reach Rp 15 million,” he said.

The boy is charged with article 362 of the criminal code on theft which carries the threat of a five-year prison sentence. However, seeing that the defendant is a minor, he will face half the sentence.

Foni, who has confessed to his crime, said that he was forced to steal and sell the flowers to pay for public minivan rides to school because he had not been given money by Sonya. (awd)