T

he Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) is currently evaluating the psychological condition of abused toddler Iqbal Saputra'€™s mother, Iis Novianti, to determine if she is fit enough to look after the child.

KPAI secretary Erlinda said on Tuesday that Iqbal will remain in the custody of the KPAI until psychological tests and observations on Iis conclude that she is well enough to care for the child.

'€œWe are not jumping to conclusions. Right now, we are collaborating with social workers to assess Iis'€™ psychological behavior, by providing her with therapy and observing her at hospital,'€ Erlinda told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She added that Iis had not yet undergone a proper psychological examination held by the KPAI and that it may take one month to fully determine Iqbal'€™s custody arrangements.

'€œThe psychological test conducted Saturday was for the sake of observation by the Koja Hospital. Her actual test will begin April 3,'€ she said.

Iqbal has reportedly begun to independently move his body and sit down properly. However, according to Erlinda, the toddler'€™s psychological condition is still fragile.

On Tuesday, Iis visited Iqbal at the hospital at 11:30 a.m. and mostly remained by the toddler'€™s side, frequently caressing the boy'€™s head and assisting in tests to see how Iqbal'€™s reflexes were developing.

'€œHe'€™s doing fine, better than yesterday,'€ Iis said.

Iis was reportedly noticeably stressed the first time she saw her son in hospital.

A nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Iqbal was currently still being fed through a tube and that if his condition improved over the next two days, he would be transferred to another room.

However, despite still needing a feeding tube, the nurse elaborated that several other intravenous treatments had been removed as the toddler showed signs of improvement.

Head of the North Jakarta Police'€™s Criminal Unit Daddy Hartadi said that the police had almost finished questioning witnesses for this case, including the woman, Juliana, who found Iqbal on March 13 at Mangga Dua bus way stop. The police will likely release the results of its questioning sessions on Wednesday.

Juliana saw Iqbal in a critical condition in the arms of a man, Dadang Supriyatna, 29, who at that time claimed to be the boy'€™s father.

Juliana urged Dadang to get Iqbal to hospital and hired two ojek (motorcycle taxis) to seek medical help. Later Pademangan health center referred Iqbal to Koja Hospital due to the severity of his wounds.

The police unveiled that Dadang was Iis'€™ former boyfriend who had alledgedly kidnapped Iqbal, forced him to work as a street busker and abused him regularly.

The police were unable to locate Iis when her son was first found but she was finally tracked down on Saturday. Iis said she had been with a housemaid agency for two weeks and had worked as a maid for a week in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. She said she did not know that Iqbal had been found because she was not allowed to watch TV and she did not read newspapers. (dyl/ask)