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Engeline's biological parents questioned
School report: A teacher displays the school identity card of Engeline Margret Megawe, a student at SDN 12 state elementary school in Sanur, Denpasar
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School report: A teacher displays the school identity card of Engeline Margret Megawe, a student at SDN 12 state elementary school in Sanur, Denpasar. Engeline was murdered and her body found buried in her backyard.(Antara/Fikri Yusuf) (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
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span class="caption">School report: A teacher displays the school identity card of Engeline Margret Megawe, a student at SDN 12 state elementary school in Sanur, Denpasar. Engeline was murdered and her body found buried in her backyard.(Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
After detaining the adoptive mother of murdered Engeline Margret Megawe on suspicion of neglecting the 8-year-old child, the police turned their attention to the biological parents on Monday.
Misyal B. Achmad, the lawyer for Engeline's adoptive mother, Margriet Megawe, said the police questioned Rosyidi and Hamidah on the adoption of the girl, asking 23 questions in a five-hour session.
'Rosyidi met Margriet through a friend. It was three days after Hamidah gave birth to Engeline. They agreed to the adoption on the same day,' Misyal said.
He said Hamidah did not agree with the adoption and claimed she had been forced to hand over her baby as Rosyidi could not afford to pay the hospital bill.
Meanwhile, Margriet agreed to pay the hospital bill as long as she could adopt their newborn, he added.
Margriet handed over Rp 800,000 to cover the hospital bill and another Rp 1 million for Hamidah's recuperation. 'So it was Rp 1.8 million in total,' he said.
After Hamidah was discharged from the hospital, her and Rosyidi lived at Margriet's villa in Badung for one week. 'After one week, when Hamidah had recovered, they went to a notary public to draw up documents on the adoption. But the document was never filed with a court by Margriet,' he said.
Both Hamidah and Rosyidi refused to comment after their questioning.
Earlier on Thursday, Hamidah said she had been shocked to learn that Engeline had been murdered. 'As a mother, I cannot accept that this is my child's fate,' she said.
'I want the perpetrator punished, whoever it is,' Hamidah added.
Meanwhile, Rosyidi told journalist on Friday that he felt he had no choice but to hand over Engeline to Margriet as he wanted his daughter to have a better life than he could offer her. 'I was hoping she would get a proper education,' he said.
Engeline's body was found buried in Margriet's backyard. She was the second child of Rosyidi and Hamidah, who divorced after Hamidah gave birth to their third child.
Both Rosyidi and Hamidah said they felt remorse over the adoption. They deplored the police's failure to name Margriet a suspect in the murder of Engeline.
Margriet, who was detained on Sunday on charges of neglect, was the wife of US national Douglas Scarborough.
Scarborough was initially against adopting the child, but eventually agreed to it. Scarborough died before Engeline celebrated her first birthday.
Margriet was an animal lover and paid a lot of attention to her pets, especially cats and dogs. After Scarborough died, she started keeping chickens. It was Engeline's job to feed the chickens, which numbered about 100.
Engeline's teacher said the child often went to school disheveled and smelling like chicken droppings. She also walked the 2 kilometers to school. Margriet apparently told the teacher that she wanted to bring Engeline up to be independent.
