Three women apprehended in baby-trafficking case
Leony Aurora, Jakarta
Jakarta Police are questioning three women alleged to be involved in transnational baby-trafficking, and who were arrested in three operations in the capital carried out between Thursday evening and Friday afternoon.
City police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said on Friday that the three suspects, Indonesians A and L and a Singaporean citizen, T, were being held at the police detention center.
"From suspect A, we learned that she had obtained four babies," he said.
One of them had already been given to Brenda, a Singaporean. The deal had not been completed as the baby girl needed to pass a health check as part of the adoption procedure in the city-state. It appears the three-month-old baby may be HIV positive, and therefore cannot be adopted.
Brenda, who had received the baby from T, was told to contact A, the alleged broker, in Jakarta. Before going to the capital, Brenda got in touch with several people and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with HIV/AIDS and asked them to take care of the baby. She also offered to pay for the care.
One of the NGOs called the Jakarta Social Welfare Agency, which in turn contacted the police as it suspected baby- trafficking. When A arrived at Mulia Hotel Senayan, Central Jakarta, where Brenda was staying, to collect the Rp 25 million (US$2,664) payment made for the baby, she was apprehended by the police.
Suspect A led the police to T, who was arrested in the small hours of Friday at Omni Batavia hotel, Kota, West Jakarta.
The police captured another suspect, L, allegedly the provider of the babies at her house in North Jakarta at noon on Friday.
"We want to find out where they got the babies from," said Makbul.
Two of the babies have allegedly been sold in Singapore through T, another is still in Singapore and another was being processed for adoption by Brenda.
Based on initial information from the suspects, the babies were bought for Rp 5 million to Rp 10 million each and sold at Rp 30 million to Rp 35 million each.
The HIV-positive baby is currently in the care of Pelita Ilmu Foundation, Kebon Baru, South Jakarta. She has a slight fever," said Sri Widowati, a volunteer at the foundation.
When reporters went there, the plump baby girl looked quite healthy and smiled a lot. According to Sri, the HIV status of a baby can only be definitively established when the baby is more than 18 months old. "She still carries her mother's immunity at present."
The three women can be charged under Article 330 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment, and Article 83 of Law No. 23/2002 on child protection, which has a minimum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum of 15 years.