KPAI: Stepmother and Father Repeatedly Abused Boy, When Warned Responded 'That's My Child'

Commissioner of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), Diyah Puspitarini, stated that a boy from Sukabumi with initials NS (13 years old) was frequently tortured by his father in addition to his stepmother. When relatives repeatedly warned the parents against committing violence, they consistently responded with “that is my child, it is my business”.

Diyah made these remarks during a general hearing session (RDPU) with Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives at Senayan, Jakarta Pusat, on Monday (2 March 2026). KPAI reportedly conducted an in-depth investigation with NS’s extended family.

“We met with the family at Jampang Kulon, specifically with NS’s uncle’s family (Uwak). Since the uncle’s family was very close to NS, and NS was even buried near the uncle’s house, we met with the family and also spoke with neighbours. We obtained information that the abuse was not only perpetrated by the mother, but also by the father,” Diyah stated during the session.

She noted that the abuse of NS was intense over the last four years. Diyah stated that extended family members had already warned against the violence, but both the stepmother and father of NS consistently dismissed these warnings.

“When I asked the leadership, the family and neighbours, ‘Did no one warn them?’ The extended family said ‘We warned them’. But the father’s response was ‘That is my child, that is my business’,” she said.

Diyah stated that NS was treated harshly, from being beaten to being slapped. She noted that the stepmother was also frequently warned against committing violence, but always disregarded such warnings.

“He was beaten, slapped. After that, the stepmother committed violence several times and was warned by the extended family, with the same excuse that ‘That is my child, so that is my business’. After this, the extended family and neighbours became too afraid to warn them again,” she said.

Diyah noted that NS’s biological father never visited his son’s burial site from the time of death until now, 25 February. Five days before his death, NS reportedly fell ill, but was simply left untreated.

“We also discovered that as of 25 February when we visited the burial site, the biological father had not visited the grave at all since then,” Diyah stated.

“We also wish to submit, with your permission, that the boy fell ill five days before his death after returning from a boarding school, but was not examined by a doctor,” she added.

KPAI is urging that those involved be charged with several violations, including obstruction of contact with parents, child abandonment, and violence.

“We also wish to submit that this constitutes filicide – the murder of a child by parents, whether biological or step-parents,” she concluded.