How Could You? Hall of Shame-Indonesia Case of Abused Older Adoptee

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Jakarta, Indonesia, “A12-year-old orphan has reported her adoptive mother to the Jakarta Police after allegedly enduring months of ill-treatment and physical abuse.

Sri Hartini, representing the young girl on behalf of the Child Advocacy Post (Pakta), said on Saturday that the girl had been deeply traumatized from the abuse and that she had bruises all over her arms, face and head.

“She’s still in trauma,” Sri said. “She frequently cries and her physical condition isn’t that good, so we haven’t been able to get the full story from her.”

Sri added that Pakta filed a report with the Jakarta Police, who are preparing to carry out a preliminary investigation.

The case reportedly dates back to June last year, when the victim, identified only as L.A., was adopted from an orphanage in Tangerang, Banten, by a couple living in the area.
Sri said the couple promised to raise the girl properly and give her an education, but they ended up forcing her to work as their maid for just Rp 5,000 (55 cents) a week.

“For seven months she had to endure this, as well as the physical violence,” Sri said.

She added that the wife, identified only as a doctor, frequently hit L.A. with a duster, mop or broom if she did something wrong or worked slowly.

“The wife was the dominant one,” Sri said. “The husband never hit L.A.”

She said the girl managed to escape last Tuesday when the husband drove his wife to work at a hospital in West Jakarta.

“L.A. went along, and throughout the trip the wife kept hitting her. But as soon as the wife went into the hospital, L.A. told the husband that she wanted to run away,” Sri said.

“The husband told her to leave quickly before his wife could find out,” she added.

A security guard at a garment factory in Daan Mogot, West Jakarta, later found the girl and reported the case to the National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI).

“She’s now being kept in a KPAI safehouse,” Sri said.

Under the charges in the police report, the wife could face up to five years in prison and fines of Rp 100 million for child abuse.”

Banten Orphan Reports Adoptive Mom for Child Abuse
[The Jakarta Globe 1/16/12 by Bayu Marhaenjati]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Intentions of the prospective parent need to be determined in the homestudy process. Being a doctor should not automatically gain a rubberstamp to adopt.

The adoptive parents did not honestly represented themselves. While this puzzle piece is often reserved for the adoption agency or orphanage who misrepresents the child’s history, we are seeing more and more adoptive parents misrepresenting the reason they are adopting. Many of those cases are in our archives.