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Police hunt down woman for child abuse
The Depok Police in West Java are searching for a woman who allegedly battered her 6-year-old stepson and abandoned him in a department store on Thursday
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he Depok Police in West Java are searching for a woman who allegedly battered her 6-year-old stepson and abandoned him in a department store on Thursday.
Depok Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Syah Johan said that the victim was currently under the protection of Depok's Labor and Social Agency and that police were combing Rawageni village in Pancoran Mas district to find the suspect's house.
'A security guard escorted the victim to our office on Thursday after he found the child alone and crying in fear at the department store at 9 p.m.,' he told The Jakarta Post on Friday, adding that the victim repeatedly told the police that he wanted to go to his grandmother's house in Malang, East Java.
According to Syah, the officers on duty decided to keep the victim at the office and feed him before transporting him to the agency's office.
He said that personnel from the police's children and women's protection unit found numerous cuts and bruises on the victim's body.
'Our team members recorded wounds on the victim's face, big bruises behind his ears and a very long laceration on his right leg. His stomach was also badly swollen,' he said.
Depok Labor and Social Agency chief Diah Sadiah said she would take the victim to the Depok General Hospital (RSUD) in Sawangan to examine the victim's wounds.
Contacted separately, the victim acknowledged that his stepmother had frequently abused him.
'My father put me in my stepmother's care starting in Ramadhan. Before, I lived with my grandmother in Malang,' he said.
'I can't stand her abuse. She has confined me a number of times in a bedroom without giving me any food. My father doesn't know about this because he rarely comes home,' he said.
He said that the latest abuse he suffered happened when he stole Rp 20,000 (US$1.84) from his stepbrother. He intended to use the money to run away from his stepmother's house.
'She beat me and scolded me because of that. I was so scared at the time,' he said.
This is the most recent child abuse case received by the Depok Police.
On May 8, a six-year-old girl named Widya died after her stepmother beat her in a bathroom.
'We will take preventive measures to avoid things like this from happening again in the future,' Diah said on Friday.
Many sides have expressed concern over the increasing incidence of child abuse seen during the past few months, even though the municipal administration was dubbed a child-friendly city in a recent National Children's Day celebration.
