I Ketut Ari Wiantara, 53, was arrested by the Bali Police on suspicion of having performed thousands of illegal abortions from 2006 to 2023.
Bali Police Special Crimes Unit Deputy Chief Ranefli Dian Candra said in a press conference today that the police received a tip-off about Wiantara’s illegal clinic, which led to his arrest on May 8 in Denpasar.
“Our suspicion is as many as 1,338 people [received abortions from the suspect] since he opened the practice [in 2006],” said Dian Candra.
Reports say that Wiantara confessed to having performed 20 abortions between 2020 and 2023, charging his patients IDR3.8 million (US$256) each for the procedure.
Dian Candra said that Wiantara is a trained dentist but is not registered with the Indonesian Doctors’ Association (IDI), nor did he regularly practice dentistry.
The investigation also found that Wiantara has already served time for performing illegal abortions – 2.5 years in 2006 and six years in 2009.
Abortion is illegal in Indonesia except in certain special circumstances, such as in cases where the pregnancy resulted from a rape or threatens the life of the mother.
Wiantara has been charged with medical practice without a license and abortion, which could see him imprisoned for up to 15 years.
