Police in Lampung province have arrested a woman and her lover for the alleged murder of the former’s 9-month-old baby girl.
According to the police, the mother, a 35-year-old South Teluk Betung resident who went by the initials AO, had been in an extramarital affair with 40-year-old MA ever since the victim was 5 months old. At one point during their relationship, AO and MA agreed that they would kill the baby and start a new life together.
One other motive for the murder, police said, was that the suspects were keen on keeping their relationship discreet.
“After the victim was born, rumors spread that the victim’s face looked like MA’s,” South Teluk Betung Police Chief Hari Budianto said yesterday.
AO and MA mulled killing the baby over the past two months to put an end to the rumors, even though the established timeline of their relationship suggests that MA couldn’t have been the father.
On Saturday, they eventually forced the helpless infant to drink a strong herbal concoction and strangled her to death.
The pair was arrested soon after and charged with infanticide and premeditated murder. If found guilty, both AO and MA may face the death penalty.
