Migrant woman's release sought

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers defending a woman migrant worker accused of abandoning her baby demanded on Wednesday the Tangerang District Court acquit her of all charges due to the psychological burdens she was shouldering.

In their defense, the team of lawyers from the Women's Association for Legal Aid (LBH APIK) told the court the defendant, Imas, was under psychological stress and did not intend to leave her newborn in the lavatory of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft that carried her back home from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 1 last year.

The lawyers based their argument on a recent psychological assessment of the defendant conducted by psychologist Livia Iskandar Dharmawan.

The prosecutors have charged the 28-year-old Cianjur native of intentionally abandoning her baby and have demanded a 18-month jail term, lighter than the maximum sentence of two years and three months in prison.

Imas was asked to leave Saudi Arabia by her employer before completing her two-year contract. Her spell abroad turned into a nightmare when she was allegedly raped by an unidentified Arabian and became pregnant.

The lawyers said Imas, who was improperly trained, had no idea how to sue the man. Feeling all alone and afraid of her husband and their two children, Imas delivered the baby by herself in the lavatory and, due to her psychological frailty, did not return to take the baby after she left the lavatory to seek help.

The trial was adjourned until Monday to hear the verdict.

Upon the approval of Imas and her husband, the baby was placed in the care of a police officer. (04)