Ministry Seeks to Re-enrol Child Whose Certificates Were Burned in West Lombok

The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) is coordinating with the Women’s and Children’s Protection Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD PPA) of West Lombok Regency and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province to ensure a 14-year-old child whose certificates were burned by her father can resume her education. “The main focus is for the victim to continue her education, whether at her previous school or another school partnered with the NTB Provincial Social and PPPA Office,” said Titi Eko Rahayu, Deputy for Special Child Protection at the PPPA Ministry, in Jakarta on Sunday. The West Lombok UPTD PPA has conducted initial outreach to the victim’s family, the reported party’s family, and coordinated with the local hamlet head. “However, during the outreach, the victim was still reluctant to meet the UPTD PPA team, so an initial assessment could not yet be carried out,” Titi Eko Rahayu said. According to her, the case reflects the classic problem of child marriage in West Lombok. “This case is a classic problem in West Lombok, resulting from strict customary understanding coupled with low parental care capacity. The child becomes the victim,” she said. Previously, a father burned his child’s certificates and school supplies, allegedly out of disappointment. The case began when the child came home late with the reported party. Because of the incident, the victim’s father demanded the reported party take responsibility and marry the victim to avoid slander. The victim and the reported party were married in an unregistered ceremony on Saturday, 13 June 2026. The child is currently still registered as a junior high school student at an Islamic boarding school in West Lombok. However, after the case went viral, the child has not resumed her school activities. NTB Province accounts for the highest rate of child marriage in Indonesia. The causes of the high child marriage rate in the region are varied, including customary and cultural influences, economic factors, low parental care capacity, community knowledge, technological developments, and moral decadence.