Yet another case of sexual abuse in a Child Welfare Institution is discovered. As Westerlaken Foundation we are continuously keeping record of harmful situations in Child Welfare Institutions on Bali. The case below is yet another case in which children are brought to a Child Welfare Institution just for the sake of education. A special provision in the Decree of the Minister of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia NO.30/HUK/2011 is made relating to submitting children to Child Welfare Institutions for the sake of education. If the principal matter faced by the family is access to education, the Child Welfare Institutions are obliged to facilitate access to education by paying for tuition costs, school supplies and transportation costs. The Child Welfare Institutions are supposed to prevent the placement of children in their institutions based on the purpose of accessing education (Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia 2011, p. 33). Research by Westerlaken Foundation has shown that in Denpasar city 58% of the children submitted to Child Welfare Institutions and 14% of the children in Denpasar city are submitted due to economic hardship.
Reimal Sipahelut, manager of Yayasan Penuai Indonesia in Kediri, Tabanan was reported to the police for committing sexual abuse to one of the children in his care from July 2016 to mid-January 2020. The caregiver even forced the victim to abort a pregnancy.
A young women came to Bali in November 2014, escorted by her mother to go to school in Bali. While in Bali, the victim lived in an Child Welfare Institution which was managed by Reimal Sipahelut. In July 2016, the victim was suddenly summoned by the offender into his room to massage him. While massaging, the victim was seduced to have sexual intercourse, but the victim refused.
After going out of the room, the victim was forced and her hands were pulled by the perpetrator, subsequently she was thrown onto the bed and the perpetrator forced the victim to have sex. Since then the victim was forced repeatedly to have sex with the perpetrator.
After being impregnated the victim was forced to abort the pregnancy, with the consequence of not receiving any further possibilities for education if she refused to abort.
After the abortion the victim fled away from the Child Welfare Institution and told her story to a friend, but the victim was found by the perpetrator and forced to come back to the Child Welfare Institution. Last January the victim fled away once more and told her story to a teacher. The teacher advised to report the issue to the police. The Head of Tabanan Police Public Relations, I Putu Made Budiarta said, the case report had been followed up with an investigation.
The victim is placed in another Child Welfare Institution in the area.