A woman seen in a recent disturbing viral video, which showed her forcefully pushing her young daughter out of a parked car, has been identified by police in the East Java city of Malang, where the incident took place.
The mother, whose identity was not disclosed, was not charged with any wrongdoing but was made to record an apology video when the Malang City Police Crime Investigation Unit came to visit her home last night.
In the video, the mother, who stood between officers from the Malang City Police’s Women and Children Protection Unit and a representative from her daughter’s school, read out a written apology that she had prepared.
“I personally apologize for the viral video, I regret and apologize for the inconvenience. I admit that I lost control [in making the mistake]. Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, I regret [my actions] and I apologize,” the mother said in the video, as picked up by Detik today.
“It happened spontaneously out of reflex and I lost control because of my emotions and I acted inappropriately towards my daughter. I had no intention to hurt my beloved daughter,” she continued, adding that her relationship with her daughter, who’s still in elementary school, is already “back to normal”.
Police say the incident took place on Tuesday on Bandung Street, Malang at around 3.30 pm after the daughter refused to attend an extra-curricular course.
“The daughter didn’t want to go to the course because the mother didn’t bring her a change of clothes. Because she refused, her mother got angry,” Malang City Police Crime Investigation Unit Head Komang Yogi Arya Wiguna told Detik last night.
Komang said they finally cooled down after the daughter apologized to the mother for arguing with her.
Explaining the lack of criminal charges against the mother, Komang said police are giving the mother the benefit of the doubt since this appeared to be her first offense and that they don’t want to take the mother away from the girl.
That said, the police are looking for the person who filmed and posted the viral video online, as they can potentially be charged with violating the country’s draconian and ambiguous Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE) for showing “violence against a child”. The mother, too, could potentially sue the original uploader for defamation.
Yesterday, the disturbing video of the mother pushing her daughter out of their parked car went hugely viral in Indonesia and prompted a police investigation. The video shows the mother pushing her daughter away from the car even as the young girl struggled to get back in, to the point that she falls face down on the road. The mother eventually lets her daughter back in the car and they drive off.
