Friday, December 18, 2009

Underaged Murderer

A 10-years-old boy was suspected by the Jakarta Police of murdering his adoptive mother last October. According to the The Jakarta Globe, the National Commission for Child Protection is now trying to save the boy.

Mercy Urged for Child Charged in Jakarta Murder

The National Commission for Child Protection on Wednesday said it was working hard to save a 10-year-old boy, suspected of having stabbed and beaten his adoptive mother to death, from serving up to 15 years in jail.

East Jakarta Police investigators have said the child, who is originally from Nias and is an orphaned survivor of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, may face charges for violating the 2004 law on domestic violence.

The boy’s adoptive mother, Etty Rochyati, 55, was found dead in a ditch near her house in Ciracas, East Jakarta, in October. She had been found with multiple blows on the head possibly due to being beaten with a blunt instrument and a stab wound to the stomach.

According to police, the boy said Etty had threatened to kick him out of the house if he did not obey her, and told him, “Don’t you know that you have no more mother and father?”

Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary general of the commission, also known as Komnas Anak, said the charge and the law on which it was based was inappropriate.

If tried, he said, the boy should only be charged with the Criminal Code article on violence leading to death. The charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years but under the Child Protection Law, minors may only serve a third of the sentence, he said.

Arist also argued that police investigators had failed to take into consideration the regular maltreatment of the child by his adoptive mother.

“What the boy did may be seen as self-defense against abuse and was not intentional,” he said.

“If the boy is still threatened with a 15-year prison sentence, the rule of law in Indonesia has been violated and this runs against what the Justice and Human Rights Ministry has planned for in its first 100-day work program,” Arist said.

He added that a memorandum of understanding had been signed by five ministries and the National Police for underage criminal offenders stipulating they no longer be sent to jail but remanded to social institutions instead.

Arist said the commission would push for an out-of-court settlement.

“We are not dealing with the case of a 22-year-old man but a 10-year-old who is unstable and still has a long life ahead of him,” he said.

He also said that Komnas Anak recommended that if the child, whose identity has been withheld, did not face trial, then he should be returned to the care of the state or to social services to get the appropriate psychological counseling.

“Underaged criminal offenders should be given restorative justice — meaning giving them back to their parents or to social institutions,” he said.

The family of the victim, who Arist said has agreed to drop charges against the boy, will meet with judges of the East Jakarta Court, police investigators, the commission and the Legal Aid Foundation to discuss the best way to move forward with the case.

9 comments:

colson said...

A lot of sensible people sayinga lot of sensible things.

Unknown said...

Colson,

Yeah, it's a fact of life

Saung Web said...

still a child alone is a killer..
how about when you grow up??. hehe..
happy new year 1431 H

Ouu said...

Whoa...I feel sorry for that child who has to live with adults not trusting him and the guilt for the rest of his life...

Unknown said...

Saung Web,

Happy New Year 1 Muharram 1431 H
Let's hope he'll change as he grow older.

Unknown said...

MetroRimJ,

The boy has lead a very sad life, first he lost his parents during the Tsunami at his home in Sumatera in 2005, then he has to live with people who are perhaps totally different from his parents.

Unknown said...

Here in New Zealand two teen aged girls have just been sentenced for murdering an elderly neighbour.They were 13 and 17 yrs at the time of the murder. They will both serve a minimum of 17 years before control can be considered..

Unknown said...

I meant parole, not control!!

Unknown said...

Kiwi Riverman,

It seems that courts everywhere are quite the same.
I am not saying that kid murderers should not be jailed, but I thought that they should also be given guidance how to live properly so they can correct themselves.
Let's hope that they will be placed separately from adult criminals as stipulated by the laws.