The incident started when the mother of the infant, identified as SK, 22, went to a market in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, at about 7 a.m. on April 27, leaving the infant with the suspect, identified as 23-year-old MS, and SK’s mother, Jumiah, 55, who is visually impaired.

According to the Kebon Jeruk Police report, Jumiah heard the infant making regurgitating sounds as though it would throw up, to which she told the suspect, who was sleeping, that he should pick up the baby. She then went about the household chores.

“After she left [the room], the baby was assaulted by the suspect. The baby was bitten on the left side of the face and punched in the face, causing injury to the baby’s nose and lips,” Kebon Jeruk Police chief Adj. Comr. Erick Sitepu told reporters on Monday.

MS reportedly told the police during questioning that he had punched the baby twice with his right fist until the victim’s forehead and nose bled. The suspect then tugged on the infant’s right hand and left arm, as well as pulled her legs until they made a popping sound.

His mother-in-law heard noises but ignored them, thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary.

SK returned home from the market 10 minutes later.

“After the assault the baby was still alive, and the mother saw that she was still breathing but limp. She asked the suspect why the baby was like that, to which he said she had choked on something,” Erick said.

With the help of several neighbors, SK and MS took the baby to Kebon Jeruk Community Health Center (Puskesmas), where the baby was declared dead on arrival.

Both the mother and the father asked for a death certificate, but the Puskesmas declined as the death was due to unnatural causes.

“Because [the Puskesmas] refused and he [the father] didn’t want to be suspected, the suspect took the baby to be buried [near their house],” Erick said.

However, SK did not fully believe what MS had told her, so she returned to the Puskesmas after the burial to ask for the baby’s death certificate. Again, the health center rejected her request and the nurse, 26-year-old Alexandreia Devi Susanti, reported the incident to the police.

The suspect was arrested on May 1, after reportedly attempting to flee.

The police investigation revealed that it was not the first time that the suspect had allegedly abused his daughter. When the she was only 1.5 months old, the father tugged on the baby’s left leg.

SK later took the baby to Harapan Kita Hospital for a medical checkup without MS’ knowledge. The medical report stated that several bones had been broken.

“However, once MS knew that his wife had taken the victim [for a checkup], he berated her,” Erick said, adding that the suspect also convinced SK that the broken leg was a result of the baby’s grandmother’s carelessness.

The police later said they had discovered the motive of the abuse: that the suspect was ashamed that the baby had been conceived during premarital sex.

The police report revealed further that SK once threatened MS that she would marry another man if he did not marry her.

However, during the marriage there were reportedly warning signs, such as the suspect trying to convince SK to abort the baby, which she refused to do.

“Investigators also tried to find photos of the victim and the suspect, but it turned out that he hated her so much that he did not want to be photographed with her,” Erick said.

The police also found that MS had been using sabu-sabu (crystal methamphetamine) since 2017, and a blood test later gave a positive reading for the substance.

Child Protection Commission (KPAI) child trafficking and exploitation commissioner Ai Maryati condemned the incident, saying that the police had been slow in handling the case.

Ai said the police took 10 days to determine that the baby was a murder victim.

She also highlighted that the abuse was not an isolated incident, as the police investigation found.

“From the start he did not wish [to be a father to the baby] and at one point the father tried to intimidate the mother into aborting the baby,” Ai told reporters, adding that the signs of abuse existed even before the baby
was born.

She said the case should be used as a lesson for people, that they should not let abuse happen or continue with a relationship if their partner showed signs of not wanting a baby.

Ai also suggested that SK undergo counseling to process the incident as she had also been subjected to hostile treatment by the suspect.

The suspect has been charged under the Criminal Code and Law No. 35/2014 on child protection and could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

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