Police hunt for the brother who abandoned his baby sister at Pasar Minggu Market

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Police are still looking for a figure known as Z, a 12-year-old boy who claims to be the elder brother of the baby abandoned on a nasi uduk cart on Jalan Pejaten Raya, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. The Pasar Minggu Police Sector Chief, Kompol Anggiat Sinambela, said authorities have not yet verified the truth of Z’s confession in the letter left with the baby girl. ‘There are no results yet; we are still searching,’ Anggiat said when contacted on Thursday (5/3/2026). He said the man seen carrying a black bag about an hour before the baby was found appeared to be an adult. ‘Not a child, an adult. A passerby like a father figure, carrying a dark bag. Around 16:30 WIB,’ Ati, who was at the scene when the baby was abandoned, said. Meanwhile, the baby, found in somewhat yellowish condition, has been taken to Pasar Minggu Public Health Centre. The baby has completed intensive care and was handed over to Panti Balita in Cipayung, East Jakarta. ‘Because the baby was a bit yellow and is now healthy,’ said South Jakarta Social Secretary Bernard Tambunan, contacted separately on Thursday. Initially, the baby’s cries were heard by a resident named Dinda (20) who was on the second floor of her house. She searched for the source of the sound and found a shopping bag containing the baby and its belongings. Dinda then called her mother to secure the baby inside the house before calling authorities. ‘The witness checked inside the shopping bag and saw a baby girl lying on her side, wearing a blue teddy bear-patterned outfit and wrapped in a baby blanket,’ said Pasar Minggu Police Sector Chief Kompol Anggiat Sinambela in a statement on Tuesday. Along with the baby, there were baby formula in a red carton, wet wipes, blue gloves, and a scrap of paper. The letter was written by the alleged older sibling with initials Z (12), claiming that their mother had died. ‘Assalamualaikum, to the men and women who found my sister, I, Zidan, would like to ask you to care for my sister because our mother died during birth; please treat her as your own child, because I will not be able to find or visit her again, I do not want her future to be like mine. Thank you,’ the letter read.