T

he investigation into the murder of 8-year-old Engeline Margaret Megawe entered a new phase when the police named her adoptive mother, Margriet Megawe, a suspect and detained her on suspicion of neglecting the girl.

'€œWe have enough preliminary evidence to interrogate her as a suspect in another case. We have detained her as a suspect of child neglect,'€ Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie told journalist on Sunday morning.

Ronny said the police arrested the 60-year-old woman, along with her two other daughters, Yvone and Christina, at a villa in Canggu, Badung regency, on Sunday morning.

The two daughters, however, have not been named suspects.

'€œThe two daughters will be heard as witnesses,'€ he said.

Ronny claimed that by declaring Margriet Megawe a suspect of child neglect, the police could then broaden their investigation and look into the possibility of her involvement in the girl'€™s murder.

Up until then, the only suspect in the murder was 25-year-old Agustinus Tai Hamdamai, who House of Representatives member Akbar Faisal said had told him on Saturday morning that he committed the murder after Margriet promised to pay him Rp 2 billion (US$149,000) to do so.

However, Agus denied the claim when he underwent questioning on Saturday afternoon until night, saying that what he told Akbar was a lie.

'€œHe said he told Akbar Faisal about the Rp 2 billion because he hated Margriet, as Margriet often got angry with him when he worked at her house,'€ Agus'€™ lawyer Haposan Sihombing said, adding that Agus keep saying that he was the sole perpetrator in the murder.

Engeline was found buried in the backyard of her family home on Jl. Sedap Malam Denpasar on Wednesday, almost one month after she had been reported missing.

Margriet adopted Engeline in 2007 when she was three days old. She paid the birth mother'€™s delivery costs of Rp 1.8 million.

An old friend of Margriet'€™s said that before she adopted Engeline, she told all her friends that she wanted to adopt and asked them to let her know if they heard of any available babies.

Her husband, Douglas Scarborough, a US national, was apparently initially against adopting a child. However, Scarborough, who worked for a mining company, eventually agreed to the adoption. The US national died before Engeline celebrated her first birthday. Before marrying Scarborough, Margriet was married to another foreigner with whom she had one daughter, Yvonne. The father of her other daughter, Christina, died in Singapore after falling ill.

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.
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'€œHe said he told Akbar Faisal about the Rp 2 billion because he hated Margriet, as Margriet often got angry with him when he worked at her house.'€