First Hearing in Little Aresha Daycare Case Held, Hundreds of Victim Parents Attend

The first hearing in the alleged abuse case at Little Aresha Daycare was held at Yogyakarta District Court on Tuesday (18/8/2026). Hundreds of parents of victims attended to monitor the proceedings, which were scheduled for the reading of the indictment. They brought banners containing protests and expressions of distress regarding the case involving their children. However, the panel of judges requested that the banners be put away once the hearing began.

The hearing commenced at 11.00 WIB. Eleven defendants, who were caregivers at Little Aresha Daycare, were presented in court. They are FN (30), NF (26), Lis (34), EN (26), SRm (54), DR (32), HP (47), ZA (30), SRj (50), DO (31), and DM (28). Meanwhile, Little Aresha Daycare Headmaster DK (51) and Foundation Chairman AP (42) will face separate trials after the proceedings against the eleven caregivers.

“The hearing with case number 194/Pid.Sus/2026/PNYyk is declared open and open to the public,” said Presiding Judge Sunaryanto at the opening of the hearing.

Head of the General Crimes Section at the Yogyakarta District Prosecutor’s Office and Public Prosecutor Sigit Kristianto stated that the eleven defendants were charged with combined indictments, both cumulative and alternative. In the indictment, the defendants are alleged to have committed a number of acts against children at Little Aresha Daycare.

“At Little Aresha Daycare, they carried out acts of binding, leaving infants on the floor, and placing them in dark rooms,” Sigit said when met after the hearing at Yogyakarta District Court.

Additionally, the condition of the room where the children were cared for was also part of the indictment. According to the prosecutor, a room that should only have been used for around four to five people was instead filled with up to 17 people. This condition reportedly caused the children to be crammed together without adequate ventilation or air conditioning.