Latest on the abandoned baby in Pasar Minggu: Mysterious man seen nearby and the possibility of adoption
The discovery of a female infant identified by the initials AR in a nasi uduk cart at the end of a narrow alley on Jalan Pejaten Raya, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, remains a mystery. Police are still tracing the identity of the person suspected of abandoning the baby. Several residents say they saw a suspicious man nearby before the baby was found.
A resident named Ati, 53, said she saw a man pass by her house around 16:30 WIB. The man wore a light brown jacket and carried a black cloth bag.
‘There was a man walking by like a dad, carrying a dark bag. Around 16:30 WIB,’ Ati said when interviewed at her home on Thursday, 5 March 2026.
She said the man was only glimpsed. But about two minutes later the man passed by again without carrying the bag. According to Ati, the man appeared to be focused on his phone.
At first, Ati did not suspect foul play. She thought the man was a courier delivering a package to a neighbour.
‘I thought, you know, people here order packages a lot. I didn’t ask. Then not long after, about two minutes, he came back and wasn’t carrying that item anymore,’ she added.
Ati only connected the incident with the discovery of the baby the following day. She then told Marlinah, the resident who found the baby in her nasi uduk cart.
According to Ati, the man she saw did not look like a 12-year-old as stated in a note found with the baby. She judged the figure to be more like an adult, around 20 to 30 years old.
‘Not a child, an adult,’ Ati said.
The witness’s description is now one of the clues police are pursuing. Police are still searching for the suspect by gathering witness statements and reviewing CCTV footage from around the scene.
Next, the baby was handed over to the South Jakarta Social Service Office and taken to Tunas Bangsa Social Welfare Home for Infants and Toddlers in Cipayung, East Jakarta.
Head of PSAA Tunas Bangsa, Rida Mufrida, said the baby arrived at the home on Thursday, 5 March 2026.
‘All praise be to God, when the baby AR arrived at the Tunas Bangsa Social Welfare Home for Infants and Toddlers, she was in good health,’ Rida told Kompas.com on Friday, 6 March 2026.