Children’s hands & feet tied up with rags in Indonesia childcare centre, 13 staff arrested for child abuse

A total of 13 people were arrested in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after videos depicting the alleged abuse of children in a childcare centre were circulated online.

The childcare centre, Little Aresha, was raided by Indonesia police on Apr. 24 after a former employee lodged a report, AFP reported.

Footage

Videos circulating online showed children lying on the ground wearing only diapers.

Their hands and feet were tied up with rags.

Police have confirmed the authenticity of the footage.

According to investigators, the children were tied up to prevent them from disturbing others.

Staff involved also claimed that the centre was understaffed, so there was not enough people to bathe and dress the children.

Raid

During the raid, police also found several tiny rooms measuring 3m by 3m.

Each room was crammed with as many as 20 children.

Out of the 103 children enrolled in the daycare, at least 53 are believed to be victims of physical abuse and neglect, BBC reported.

The majority of the victims were under the age of two.

Arrested

On Apr. 25, police detained and questioned around 30 people from the childcare centre.

A total of 13 of them were arrested for alleged mistreatment and neglect.

The arrested included 11 child carers, the headmaster and the head of the foundation that ran the childcare centre.

They will face charges, including child neglect.

Other charges may be added as the investigation goes on.

Authorities also confirmed that Little Aresha did not have an operating permit.

The childcare centre has been closed since the raid, and has not publicly responded to this incident.

Parents' response

Noorman Windarto, a 42-year-old, was one of the parents whose children attended Little Aresha.

He learnt from the police that his son was among those tied up.

“My heart was shattered. My wife cried. Most of the caregivers were women, and their body language was tender. They were so soft-spoken, and appeared to be religious.” Noorman said.

He apparently paid 1.1 million rupiah (S$81.19) for each of his two children to attend the childcare centre.

That is half the minimum wage in Yogyakarta.

Noorman’s daughter, a six-year-old, stopped attending recently.

He claimed that she sometimes came home with cuts and bruises.

The staff apparently told him that his daughter hurt herself at home, not at the centre.

Noorman also claimed that his son struggled to gain weight and always complained that he was hungry.

His son was also recently diagnosed with pneumonia.

Noorman suspects that it might have had something to do with his son being made to sleep on a cold floor without clothes.

"It turns out we didn't notice the signs that something was wrong," Noorman said.

Noorman and his wife hope the centre will be investigated, and the alleged abusers will be punished severely.

Under Indonesia’s child protection law, offenders may face up to a jail term of five years and a 100 million rupiah (S$7,378.51) fine.