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Police search for woman accused of child abuse
An adopted child was doused with hot water by her foster mother as punishment for teasing her biological child.
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Illustration of child abuse. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Depok Police in West Java are searching for a woman identified only as SN for allegedly abusing her adoptive child, identified as S. SN reportedly doused S with hot water on May 24 in her house in Cinere district.
S, thought to be 10 or 11 years old, is being treated at Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta. S was a homeless child before being adopted by SN and her husband, identified only as U.
Locals in the neighborhood said they first noticed signs of child abuse as several of them saw S with burns to her body.
“She was in a very bad condition. Some people approached her and asked what happened,” community elder Suryadi said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.
Suryadi added that initially S was tight-lipped over the abuse but she eventually revealed to neighbors that she was frequently abused by her stepmother. She was doused with boiling water after playing with a bag of hot soto (chicken soup).
“S had just bought the soto in a plastic bag. She came home and teased SN’s child as a joke. She tapped the plastic bag with the hot soto broth on the child’s cheek,” Suryadi said.
The child cried and tattled to SN. SN, who was furious at S for the act, then allegedly poured the hot water as a punishment to S.
While some local residents rushed S to the hospital, some filed a report to the Depok Police.
The woman and child protection unit's First Insp. Tamar said the police were investigating the case.
“We have received the report, the child has received medical treatment at Fatmawati Hospital. Officers from Limo Police [under the Depok Police] have visited the residence where the alleged case happened,” Tamar said.
SN was nowhere to be found. (vla)
