Newborn found dead in street, death tally 48

JAKARTA (JP): The 1997 death toll for infanticide rose to 48 yesterday after another abandoned baby -- believed to be only a few hours old -- was found dead.

The baby girl was found beside busy Jl. Pisangan Baru in East Jakarta early in the morning, an official from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital said.

Mun'im Idris, a forensic doctor at the hospital, said a local resident found the baby wrapped in a sarong. A bra had been tied around her throat and a red handkerchief was stuffed in her mouth.

The baby, whose cause of death had not been determined, was the second abandoned newborn found in Jakarta this week.

The first, also a girl, was found Tuesday in a biscuit tin on a pile of garbage floating down Kali Grogol canal in West Jakarta.

"It's a vicious and ruthless act," Mun'im said.

Dumping a baby will almost surely lead to its death, he said: "It's murder."

The University of Indonesia's forensic department has recorded 48 instances of a baby being found dead and abandoned in Jakarta this year. Last year, there were 24 cases while in 1995 there were 52.

Police have been unable to solve any of the 48 cases of infanticide this year.

Mun'im said these crimes were difficult to solve because the babies probably came from areas far away from where they were found.

Shame

Mun'im said most of the abandoned babies were likely to have been born out of wedlock, and their mothers abandoned them because of shame, financial difficulties or confusion.

"If the baby is just born and dumped immediately, it is most likely that the mother panicked and was confused," he said.

He said most women who dumped their newborn babies were usually poor and had a poor education.

Wealthier and more educated women would have an abortion to avoid the humiliation of having a baby out of wedlock, he said.

In the majority of cases, the newborn babies were either abandoned and left to die or strangled to death, he said.

However, in 1991, a woman in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, cut her baby into 11 pieces and dumped the child's remains in a ditch.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said his office were still looking for the mother of the baby.

The woman could be charged under Article 341 or 342 of the Criminal Code for infanticide, an offense which carries a penalty of up to nine years in jail, Aritonang said.

The latest report on infanticide brought swift condemnation from City Councilor Soeparmo of the Golkar faction, who labeled it a "cruel and immoral act."

"It's a crime that should not go unpunished," he said.

Soeparmo, who chairs the City Council's Commission E for welfare affairs, said some people were probably not prepared for the harsh reality of living in Jakarta.

He said the killings demonstrated an erosion of moral values as the nation transformed from a traditional to modern era and from communal living to a more individualistic lifestyle.

He speculated that most of these babies were the result of illicit love affairs.

"They probably think that their problems will be solved by abandoning their babies," he said. "They think they can get away with it because they know that other people do not really care." (04/ste/cst)