Regency takes savagely abused girl into care
Regency takes savagely abused girl into care
Multa Fidrus
The Jakarta Post/Tangerang
The Tangerang regency administration has taken into care a girl
who was abused by her mother at the Binong Permai housing
complex, Curug district, Tangerang, last August.
"We have arranged everything; the regency administration will
cover all of her living expenses, including her education, until
she can stand on her own two feet," Tangerang Regent Ismet
Iskandar said on Saturday.
Anggi Febrianti, 5, has been in police custody since August
after her neighbor Wahyudi reported to the police that the young
girl had been abused repeatedly by her 35-year-old mother
Sumarlis.
Upon receiving the report, local police arrested Sumarlis on
the same day and later declared her a suspect on charges of child
abuse.
She reportedly admitted to having beaten the girl, and to
pinching her genitals and pulling out her teeth using a pair of
pliers. Sumarlis also told police investigators that she beat
Anggi using bamboo sticks, belts and iron bars.
The woman, who is in police custody awaiting trial in the
Tangerang District Court, blamed Anggi for her abandonment by her
husband two years ago.
Curug Police chief Adj. Insp. Suyono said the police had found
sufficient prima facie evidence to charge the woman under Article
80 of Law No. 23/2002 on child abuse, which carries a maximum
penalty of five years in prison.
Regent Ismet said that Anggi, along with the many other
children who had experienced a similar fate in the regency,
deserved to be helped by the regency administration.
"We are concerned about the extraordinary physical abuse that
this girl received at the hands of her mother," he said.
Ismet did not say how much money would be allocated for
Anggi's upkeep and education in the regency's 2006 budget.
"I will discuss this matter with the regency council first and
I am very sure that the councillors will agree for the girl to be
taken into care as a ward of state," he said.
Anggi is now attending the Persatuan Budi Luhur Kindergarten
in Tangerang.
The money for Anggi's upkeep and education would be channeled
through the regency social affairs agency starting next year.
Ismet said the right to bring up the girl would be transferred
to Winarni, a policewoman posted to the Curug subprecinct, who
has been looking after Anggi since her mother was arrested.