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Social media to the rescue
A bike with a story: Aja Suharja, who rents bicycles at the National Monument (Monas), Central Jakarta, shows the bike used by missing girl Alma Aini Hakim
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A bike with a story: Aja Suharja, who rents bicycles at the National Monument (Monas), Central Jakarta, shows the bike used by missing girl Alma Aini Hakim. Alma, 7, was lost for four days after her aunt allowed her to go and buy snacks on her own during an outing at Monas. Aja took care of Alma until she was discovered last week. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (Monas), Central Jakarta, shows the bike used by missing girl Alma Aini Hakim. Alma, 7, was lost for four days after her aunt allowed her to go and buy snacks on her own during an outing at Monas. Aja took care of Alma until she was discovered last week. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
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span class="inline inline-none">A bike with a story: Aja Suharja, who rents bicycles at the National Monument (Monas), Central Jakarta, shows the bike used by missing girl Alma Aini Hakim. Alma, 7, was lost for four days after her aunt allowed her to go and buy snacks on her own during an outing at Monas. Aja took care of Alma until she was discovered last week. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Roy Julian, a resident of Utan Kayu in East Jakarta, was beside himself with worry when his seven-year-old daughter, Alma Aini Hakim, went missing at the National Monument (Monas) in Central
Jakarta on Oct. 26.
The artist from Kantor Theater, understandably, vented his anger on the child's irresponsible aunt, who had allowed the little girl to make her way through the crowded park ' on her own ' to buy snacks.
As his rage subsided, he turned to action and posted a message, along with a photograph of Alma, to his Facebook page and changed his profile picture to a picture of her on Oct. 29.
'Social media was more effective than the police in the search for my daughter. The message immediately went viral but the police was slow,' Roy told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
His message got thousands of mentions on Twitter and was reposted by Blackberry and Facebook users. In the message, he explained that Public Order officers had searched for Alma, the family had filed a police report and Roy and his wife, Piala Dewi Lolita, had spoken to journalists and radio stations to get the word out there.
The day after, on Wednesday, Dwisca Kartinia, 54, an employee of a state-owned company, saw Alma riding a bicycle at Monas and took her to the Gambir Police. She said she had learned that Alma was missing from a radio show as well as having received a Blackberry broadcast message.
'I was determined to see if I could find Alma in Monas after work. After looking for an-hour-and-a-half, I spotted her on a bicycle,' she told reporters.
That evening, Roy and his wife, who are separated, had an emotional reunion with their daughter.
During the four days she was missing, Alma had stayed with Aja Suharja, 49, a man who rents bicycles in Monas, and his five-year-old daughter, Suci.
The police later told Roy that Aja did not understand he should have reported the missing girl to the
police.
Criminologist from the University of Indonesia Kisnu Widagso said the police were often limited by finance and human resources, so they were forced to prioritize cases, pushing those deemed unimportant to the bottom of the pile.
'When people are frustrated ba lack of action, they search for alternatives, including turning to social media. This is a breakthrough because there were many people aware of the situation,' he told the Post.
However, he said, utilizing social media when a loved one is missing could have a dangerous side, especially if the the victim and perpetrator were in the same social circle. This could negatively impact on the investigation because the perpetrator would be one step ahead.
'Do the standard procedure: Report it to the police. We cannot be sure that the perpetrator and the victim are not in the same social network. In most kidnapping cases, the perpetrator knows the victim,' Kisnu said. (koi)
