Women arrested for selling baby
Women arrested for selling baby
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
A mother and her daughter are now in police detention on baby-
trafficking charges.
The Tangerang Police arrested Esther and her daughter, Lala,
on Thursday following complaints filed by Diah, who lost her
newly-born grandchild, and the infant's mother, Helida.
Helida, a resident of Jl. Gembor, Pasir Jaya subdistrict,
Pasar Kemis district, believed that her baby was taken by Ester,
50, and her daughter Lala, who had earlier offered to pay the
cost of Helida's medical and maternity expenses.
Helida said that two hours after she delivered her baby in the
Puspita clinic, Grendeng subdistrict, on Feb. 11, Ester's
daughter Lala came and asked her to sign a letter of consent.
"I was still only half-conscious when Lala abruptly asked me
to sign the letter. I was not even given a chance to read it and
I just signed it," she said, adding that Lala took her new-born
baby from the clinic immediately.
Helida said that when her mother, Diah, came to visit her, she
was shocked to find that the baby had gone.
After Helida told her mother that the baby had been taken by
Ester's daughter, Diah met Ester to demand that the baby be
returned. But Ester said Helida owed her Rp 1.7 million
(US$1,700).
After negotiations with Ester, the grandmother then agreed to
pay Rp 4 million to get the baby back.
When Diah came the following day, Ester said that the baby had
been taken to Bandung, West Java, by someone called Ook.
Feeling that something was not right, Diah finally asked
lawyer Sanggam M. Tambunan to file a complaint with the police.
On Thursday, the police arrested Ester and her daughter.
Lala told the police that her mother had given Helida Rp
270,000 for the medical treatment and gave her another Rp 1
million after the baby was born on condition that she gave up her
baby.
Lawyer Sanggam alleged that Ester might have been working in
cahoots with a midwife in the clinic because when Helida received
Rp 1 million from Lala, the midwife asked why she had not ask for
Rp 3 million because the baby would be sold for Rp 10 million.
Helida claimed that she had no idea that she had to give up
her baby in return of the money.
The police are still investigating the baby-trafficking
charges.