An Indonesian woman has been indicted on charges of child abuse after some very uncomfortable videos of her handling her baby went viral earlier this year.
Mariana Dangu, also known as Merry, was arrested in Bali in July 2017 following the release of footage she filmed showing her pinching her own infant son, referred to as “Baby J,” and dousing him with dish soap.
District attorney Purwanti Murtiasih read Dangu’s indictment in Denpasar Court on Tuesday, laying out two charges: that first, Dangu had committed physical acts of violence in her household and secondly, that the woman participated in violence against a child.
It was further explained in the indictment that Dangu had previously engaged in an extramarital relationship with a foreigner, named Otmar Daniel Adelsberger. As a result of the relationship, Baby J was born on August 17, 2016 in Sumba—where Dangu is originally from—and then moved to Bali to be taken care of by his mother.
“The child was cared for by the defendant and lived wither at a boarding house on Jl. Drupadi 2, behind Warung Blambangan in Seminyak,” Murtiasih read from the indictment, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
On March 15, 2017, the defendant and her son came down with a fever and cough, so the next day, Dangu took her baby to a clinic in Seminyak, which then referred the pair to a larger hospital. However, Dangu did not have enough money for medical care, so she contacted Adelsberger, who was living in Austria, for financial assistance.
“The defendant contacted the witness, Otmar, to ask for money, but the witness actually scolded her,” the indictment read. Adelsberger accused Dangu of making up the “drama” and didn’t believe that Baby J was really sick.
After this chain of events, Dangu took her frustration out on Baby J, putting him on the bathroom floor then pushing him, pinching him, smacking him on the bottom, dousing the screaming baby in dish soap and dumping water on him. She recorded her actions on her friend Melisa’s phone to send to the child’s father, according to the indictment.
During this time, Melisa tried to stop Dangu from her rough treatment of Baby J, but was unsuccessful. When Dangu was finished in the bathroom, Melisa washed Baby J up, said the indictment.
It didn’t end there though, Dangu brought the baby to the mattress and smacked him with a pillow.
“When beating and slamming him repeatedly, the defendant asked for her friend Melisa to record the action and sent the video to Otmar,” the prosecutor said.
Dangu’s trial will proceed next week with the examination of witnesses.
Baby J was taken to an orphanage for care by a nonprofit after social services got wind of abuse at his home. The two videos were apparently released on Facebook months after the incident, in July 2017 as a way of blocking the baby from his mother when Dangu allegedly tried to return to take her son.
Garnering over two million combined views in just 48 hours, the videos helped trigger a police investigation, which led to Dangu’s arrest and have since apparently been removed from Facebook.
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