PDIP Highlights Child Suicide in Demak: 'Not Just a Tragedy, but a Moral Alarm'

Selly Andriany Gantina, deputy chairwoman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives from the PDIP faction, has drawn attention to the case of a 12-year-old child who died by suicide in Demak, Central Java. Selly argued the incident constitutes evidence of inadequate mental health safeguards for children.

“This incident is not merely a family tragedy, but a moral and social alarm for the state, society, and all stakeholders in the national child protection system,” Selly said in a statement on Wednesday (18/2/2026).

Selly noted that suicide among children under 12 years of age is an extremely complex issue. At that age, she said, children do not yet possess a mature understanding of death and are heavily influenced by emotional impulses and their social environment.

“This tragedy demands that we examine the issue honestly and structurally. A child who should be in a phase of growing, learning, and experiencing full protection is instead in an emotionally vulnerable position,” Selly explained.

She argued that the state must not only appear after a tragedy has occurred, calling for the strengthening of protection systems capable of preventing and detecting children’s vulnerabilities from an early stage.

She emphasised the need to strengthen early detection systems for children’s mental health in schools and families. Selly stressed that schools must not merely serve as spaces for knowledge transfer, but also as emotionally safe environments.

“Child protection policy must be reoriented towards a preventive rather than reactive approach. Until now, the state has tended to act only after a tragedy occurs. Yet true child protection lies in the state’s ability to identify risks before they become crises,” she said.

“There must be oversight of the digital ecosystem that affects children’s psychological wellbeing. Exposure to digital content without guidance can form distorted perceptions about death, suffering, and solutions to emotional distress,” she added.

Selly affirmed that child protection is a constitutional mandate of the state. She argued the tragedy demonstrates that children’s vulnerability is not always related to economic conditions, but also to psychological and social wellbeing.

“Children are not merely individuals in demographic statistics, but the future of the nation. A state that fails to protect children’s mental health is effectively gambling with the quality of its future civilisation,” she said.

Previously, a young girl in Demak Regency, Central Java, was found dead by hanging at her home. The victim had earlier posted screenshots of message conversations containing emotionally charged words from her mother.

Demak Police Criminal Investigation Unit chief Inspector Anggah Mardwi Pitriyono said the screenshots had been uploaded several days before the incident. The screenshots contained several harsh words.

“The screenshot was a chat from the victim’s mother to the victim and was uploaded by the victim on WhatsApp several days before the hanging,” Anggah said by telephone.

The victim had also written a caption on the photo reading: “Behind my laughter, on the other side I’m also tired.” Anggah said the hanging occurred on the afternoon of Thursday (12/2).