Tsunami child escapes bondage<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
Eight-year-old tsunami survivor, Rahmat Hidayat, now feels safe,
\nsurrounded by familiar faces of people who care about him in a
\nshelter for displaced persons in Medan.<\/p>\n
The boy says he was abducted in Banda Aceh by a man he didn't
\nknow who brought him to Batam to work as a beggar for more than a
\nmonth. There, he was given two meals a day and pocket money,
\ndepending on the earnings he made each day.<\/p>\n
\"If got him Rp 50,000 (US$5.50) a day, he'd give me Rp 1,000.
\nBut if I got nothing, I wouldn't be given anything, but a
\nbeating,\" Rahmat told The Jakarta Post at the Aceh Sepakat
\nshelter.<\/p>\n
He recalled there were around 30 young children who had been
\nabducted along with him. Most of them were from Batam and Medan,
\nwhile he was the only one from Aceh.<\/p>\n
Rahmat said the children were forced to get at least Rp 50,000
\na day. For those who failed, physical abuse awaited them, such as
\nbeing kicked or not given meals.<\/p>\n
Rahmat, who was taken to Batam on an airplane, said he did not
\nrecognize his kidnaper or recall his name. He could not remember
\nwhen he was brought to Batam or the place where he and the other
\nchildren were confined. As far as he remembered, he and the
\nothers stayed in a house in the Batam city center which was near
\nthe airport.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he had any desire to escape, Rahmat said he
\nhimself was too afraid to run away.<\/p>\n
He was eventually released by the abductors because they
\ndeemed he was no longer useful in collecting money, returning him
\nto Medan by ship.<\/p>\n
Upon his arrival in Belawan, a port-city near Medan, he did
\nnot know where to go, wandering around for several hours in the
\nport until a public minivan driver brought him to the Pancur Batu
\nPolice station in Deli Serdang regency.<\/p>\n
After learning the boy was a tsunami survivor, the police then
\ncontacted the caretaker of the Aceh Sepakat shelter in Medan, and
\nlater sent him there.<\/p>\n
Treasurer of the North Sumatra's Aceh Women's Association,
\nRosuna Chowaja, said Rahmat hardly talked at all when he was
\ntaken to the shelter.<\/p>\n
\"It's almost been two weeks since Rahmat stayed here, but his
\nmemory is still weak. He is still traumatized about the death of
\nhis parents and sister in the tsunami,\" said Rosuna, adding that
\nRahmat is now alone in the world.<\/p>\n
Both his parents, Udin and Ita, and his little sister Siti
\nAisyah, were killed when the disastrous earthquake-triggered
\ntsunami devastated Banda Aceh on Dec. 26 last year.<\/p>\n
Rosuna said her organization had already planned to put Rahmat
\nback in school in Medan. He was previously a third grader at the
\nBanda Aceh Islamic elementary school.<\/p>\n
\"All the documents have been arranged. If there are no
\nproblems, he should start school tomorrow,\" said Rosuna.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tsunami-child-escapes-bondage-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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