Distressing footage of a baby being smacked and doused with water and dish soap by its own mother has gone viral, amid fears that he will be returned to his abusive home.
The baby boy was taken to an orphanage in Denpasar, Bali about two months ago after social services got wind of abuse, but it is understood that the mother is trying to get her son back.
Baby “J” is still in the custody of the Denpasar-based Metta Mama & Maggha Foundation (YMMM), a staff member from the NGO confirmed over the phone with Coconuts Bali on Friday afternoon.
Following reports of abuse, such as depicted in the horrifying videos, the Indonesian social services agency, the Integrated Empowerment Services for Women and Children (P2TP2A), took the baby from its mother, relocating it to YMMM, says Putri, who works for the foundation.
It’s not clear at this point how long the baby will remain in the orphanage’s care.
Police have not been involved in the case, only social services, according to Putri. Coconuts Bali has contacted Bali Police for further confirmation.
Now “covered” by Facebook for “depicting graphic violence or gore”, the two videos, apparently taken from a handphone cam, show a woman inflicting suffering on a baby. In the first, the woman taking the video can be heard saying, “Drama, this is your drama,” as she repeatedly taps the crying child on the back—bordering on whacking— and pinches and taps his face.
“I work so hard,” the woman says. Things only get worse in the second video, as the woman lifts the baby by the shirt into a bathroom, who is now screaming again in distress. She continues to dump buckets of water on the wailing child, then finally takes dish soap, pouring it on and on, then pins down the baby with her foot.
Both videos can be “uncovered” for Facebook users willing to bypass the warning for “graphic violence,” but believe us, they are nearly impossible to stomach.
The videos that started this whole thing were shared to Facebook by user “Eva Vega” on Thursday and have gotten more than nine million views and thousands of comments since they were first posted. While Vega does not work for YMMM, she has apparently been involved in helping with cases there and said in her Facebook post that she has taken action to help the child, who she refers to as ‘Baby J’, as a “form of my affection and concern for baby J even though he’s not my own.”
“I cannot imagine how an innocent baby should go through this kind of suffering caused by people who should protect her,” Vega wrote.
“I heard myself how her mother seemed to blame how she had been hurt and let down by the baby’s father, which caused her to suffer from depression, which made her inflict the torture. SORRY, I think that’s the most unreasonable reason.
“What kind of person uses the ‘pain’ from their partner as a reason to abuse their own baby?”
Coconuts Bali has messaged Eva Vega for further comment.
The flurry of comments apparently prompted Vega to make a second post, “responding to the many comments on her posts” and “conveying her true intentions.”
Writing that the baby was now with YMMM, Vega wrote in another post later on Thursday that it was “not my intention to bully or attack the mother, just to save them both.”
She continued that she was motivated to post the videos to “help convince the mother how she still needs to care for the ‘pain’ she’s inflicted.”
Vega also alluded to the mother being “bipolar,” explaining that the baby had likely been the victim of a bipolar episode.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since it was originally published, as more information has been made available to Coconuts Bali.
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