Prosecutors at the Denpasar District Court yesterday demanded that 26-year-old Selvina Buik be sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly dumping and ultimately killing her newborn baby boy.
“The defendant purposely placed, neglected and assaulted a child until he died,” prosecutor Luh Heny F Rahayu said at the court yesterday, as quoted by Kumparan.
As reported by local media, Selvina was arrested earlier this year in May for allegedly dumping her own baby on a trash can after she gave birth in the restroom of her boarding house, which is located in Kuta, Badung.
Based on her own statement, Selvina reportedly said that she went to the restroom after realizing she was bleeding. It seems that she did not expect to give birth at the time, but inadvertently did so when she squatted on the toilet.
Fearing that her neighbors would hear, she panicked once the baby started crying. Selvina allegedly began strangling him, then wrapped him with a black cloth before dumping him on the trash can.
Selvina reportedly admitted that the baby was the result of her relationship with a man named Viki. She realized she was pregnant in December of last year, but the news was ignored by Viki, who Selvina said did not want to take responsibility. Throughout her pregnancy, Selvina said she did not go to see any healthcare professional.
Prosecutor Heny said Selvina is guilty of violating Indonesia’s Child Protection Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. However, since the baby is Selvina’s own child, her prison term could be increased by up to a third of her eventual sentence.
Bali is unfortunately no stranger to other cases of babies being dumped, and they oftentimes involve teenagers or young adults.
In August, for example, police in Bangli regency arrested a couple for allegedly throwing away their newborn baby. That same week, police revealed another case involving a 20-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly leaving her newborn baby in a fishing pond in south Denpasar.
