TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsMother in spotlight
Margriet Megawe - JPAmid fresh allegations pointing to the role of Margriet Megawe in the murder of her adopted daughter Engeline Margriet Megawe (not Angeline as previously reported), the police have insisted the immediate arrest of Margriet is not necessary
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Margriet Megawe - JP
Amid fresh allegations pointing to the role of Margriet Megawe in the murder of her adopted daughter Engeline Margriet Megawe (not Angeline as previously reported), the police have insisted the immediate arrest of Margriet is not necessary.
Police said Agustinus 'Agus' Tai Hamdamai, the only official suspect so far in the killing of 8-year-old Engeline, confessed on Saturday he committed the murder after Margriet promised him Rp 2 billion (US$149,000) in cash to do the deed.
Agus, who worked as a domestic helper for the family for a month prior to Engeline's disappearance in May, made the statement before investigators and several visiting members of the House of Representatives at the Denpasar Police headquarters.
While the motive for the killing remains sketchy, Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Hery Wiyanto said Agus' recent implication of Margriet was a turning point in the investigation. 'This is a new lead. We will follow it thoroughly,' he said.
However, Hery said the police see no reason to immediately arrest Margriet as more evidence was still needed. 'We are still working to unravel the case,' he said.
The nation was shaken by the discovery on Wednesday of Engeline's decayed body buried in her adoptive mother's backyard, almost one month after the girl was declared missing by her adoptive family.
Politicians, government officials and celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon to issue statements and condemn the incident.
House member Akbar Faisal, who visited the Denpasar Police, said he and Denpasar Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wayan Artana, accompanied by several investigators, directly heard Agus' statement about the promised money.
'The money was supposedly to be paid on the 25th of this month,' said Akbar, a member of House Commission III for law and security. 'Police said this is a new lead and that they promised to follow it up.'
Margriet's lawyer, Bernadin, said he had no knowledge of Agus' statement. 'I have not heard it directly. So, I could not say whether it is true or not,' he said.
Bernadin also said Margriet denied any role in the murder.
'She is still in shock over the murder of her daughter,' said Bernadin, who decided later in the evening to resign from representing Margriet due to reasons of principle.
Agus' lawyer Haposan Sihombing said his client's confession should be clarified. 'Agus' statement has often changed. It seems that he is under pressure,' Haposan said.
The forensic team on Friday had found a spot of blood in Margriet's bedroom and is currently waiting for the outcome of DNA tests on the sample.
Margriet and her two other daughters were questioned by the police as witnesses on Friday, but were allowed to go home at around 8 p.m. local time. No questioning was scheduled for the family on Saturday.
Witnesses have claimed that prior to Engeline's disappearance the girl may have suffered from regular mistreatment. They said she often arrived at school hungry and in a filthy uniform. A teacher at her school had apparently also found marks of violence on Engeline's body.
Engeline had been adopted solely on the basis of a notary certificate by Margriet and her second husband, a US national who died several years ago, three days after she was born.
Engeline's biological parents, Hamidah and Rosidik, apparently agreed to give her up for adoption because they could not pay for the hospital expenses of delivering Engeline.
How the case unraveled
May 16, 2015: Engeline's adoptive mother Margriet reports the girl missing after she was last seen playing in front of the family home on Jl. Sedap Malam, Sanur, Denpasar, Bali, at 3 p.m.
May 17: Engeline's family creates a Facebook fanpage 'Find Angeline-Bali's Missing Child'.
May 18: Police question several witnesses to locate Engeline and track down Engeline's biological mother, Hamidah.
May 24: The National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) visit Engeline's house and meet Margriet.
May 25: Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie forms a team to find Engeline.
May 26: Bali Police investigators quiz Margriet.
June 1: Officers from the Denpasar branch of the Community Services Center for the Protection of Women and Children (P2TP2A) visit Engeline's house, but Margriet refuses to meet them.
June 2: Police search the house but find no signs of Engeline.
June 3: Safe Childhood Foundation, the Bali branch of Sahabat Anak Foundation, and Komnas PA organize an event to distribute flyers on the missing girl in the neighborhood around Engeline's house.
June 5: Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi pays a visit to Engeline's house but is turned away by the family's house guards.
June 6: Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yembise pays a visit to Engeline's house but fails to meet any of the family members.
June 10: Police unearth the decomposing remains of Engeline with her doll, wrapped in a bed cover. The body was buried under a heap of trash between banana trees next to chicken cages. An autopsy on Engeline's body finds the cause of her death was head trauma. In the autopsy, the police find signs of violence, namely bruises on the face, neck, hands and legs. Police also find a burn wound from a cigarette butt on the right side of her back in addition to traces of plastic rope around the neck.
June 11: The Police arrest, Agustinus 'Agus' Tai Hamdamai, who confesses to committing acts of violence against Engeline leading to her death.
