Owner of Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta Named as Suspect

Police have named the owner of Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta as a suspect in a case of alleged child abuse and neglect. However, she is not a new suspect among the 13 previously designated; the daycare owner is also the Chair of the Foundation overseeing it, a woman with initials DK (51). Head of the Women’s and Children’s Services Unit (Kanit PPA) at Yogyakarta Police Resort, Apri Sawitri, confirmed this over the weekend. She explained that the owner of Little Aresha Daycare is also the chair of the foundation managing the institution. In previous police reports, DK was listed as the foundation chair. In this case, police found that DK’s role was crucial in giving direct verbal orders to caregivers to abuse the children. “Yes, the foundation chair is also the foundation owner,” clarified Kanit Protection for Women and Children (PPA) of the Yogyakarta Police Resort Criminal Investigation Unit, Ipda Apri Sawitri, on Sunday (3/5), quoted from detikJogja. The investigation into this case is ongoing. However, according to Apri, no former employees or children previously cared for at Little Aresha have been examined yet. “Not yet (former employees or children previously cared for at Little Aresha have been examined). We are still delving deeper. We are focusing first on the current students,” she stated. Nevertheless, Apri emphasised that her side is still open to and accepting all complaints related to this case. “Yes, that’s right, we accept all complaints,” Apri added. Previously, police are now open to the possibility of naming suspects or victims from former employees or children who were once at Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta. In this case, police have named 13 suspects consisting of the foundation chair, school principal, and caregivers secured during last week’s raid. Additionally, police have recorded 53 child victims under the daycare’s care this academic year. Police are also compiling data on possible other victims from previous years since the daycare was established. Head of Criminal Investigation at Yogyakarta Police Resort, Kompol Riski Adrian, explained that from DK’s statement as the foundation chair, it is known that Little Aresha Daycare was founded in 2021, but its establishment deed was only issued in 2022. “We are tracing from when they did that (abuse), because there is a suspect named SR, who has been working there for a year and a half,” Adrian said in Yogyakarta on Friday (1/5). “We asked [suspect SR] when this practice started? [Answered] ‘Before I was there’, meaning even before her, who has been there for a year and a half, they were already doing it,” he continued. On that basis, Adrian said his side is open to the possibility of new suspects from former employees. This is because, from the list of caregivers displayed at the daycare, most have no longer worked at Little Aresha. “Now we are tracing who the previous caregivers were, because from the structure we obtained, those who might have scattered, most of the caregivers are no longer there,” Adrian explained. “Some might have come and gone. That’s why we are tracing the former employees to know since when these patterns occurred,” he added. Meanwhile, citing Antara, Yogyakarta Police Resort stated that the Supreme Court’s Supervisory Body (Bawas MA) also directly observed the examination process of the suspects in the alleged child abuse and neglect case by Little Aresha Daycare. Bawas MA intervened directly due to suspicions of involvement of an active judge with initials RIL in the management structure of Little Aresha. The active judge allegedly in the daycare’s management structure is Rafid Ihsan Lubis (RIL), who serves at the Tais District Court, Seluma Regency, Bengkulu. His name appears in the daycare’s organisational structure as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Aresha Indonesia Center Foundation. In response, based on statements from PN Tais, Rafid denied active involvement in managing the Little Aresha Daycare Foundation in Yogyakarta. “Judge RIL has never been involved in operational activities or decision-making at the foundation, only assisting in the initial establishment phase,” said spokesperson for Tais District Court, Rohmat, in Seluma Regency on Tuesday (28/4), quoted from Antara. From RIL’s statement, Rohmat explained that the daycare foundation owner asked for help to lend his electronic ID card (e-KTP) as one of the administrative requirements for establishing the legal entity in 2021. However, Rohmat said, RIL claimed that at that time he stated the requirement that his name must be removed from the management structure after the foundation’s legal entity was officially formed. Rohmat explained that this request was made after RIL was declared to have passed as a prospective civil servant (CPNS) Judge. Additionally, he said, RIL also claimed he was never involved in decision-making or further communication regarding the foundation’s operations. Rohmat stated that RIL acknowledged his action of lending his personal identity in 2021 was a mistake and negligence. On that basis, RIL expressed apologies to the victims and the victims’ families affected by the foundation’s controversy. As of this report, there is no further information on whether RIL will or has been examined by police regarding this case.