Police in the Bekasi regency of Indonesia have arrested a 39-year-old man named Roni Andirawan on suspicion of brutally murdering his 15-month-old stepdaughter.
According to the police, on Monday, the victim, identified by her initial D, was fussy as she was suffering from an unspecified illness. Her cries kept up Roni, who was trying to get some sleep in the same room.
“At the time, the baby was cranky because she was sick. She was given medicine, warm orange juice, but she was still cranky and wanted to get close to [Roni] who was lying in bed, but he threw her,” Serang Baru District Police Chief Wito told Detik today.
“He threw her on the bed three times, and she hit the wall twice.”
D was no longer conscious after the third throw. Roni and his wife then took her to the hospital but he initially did not say that he had physically abused her.
D was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The hospital staff then alerted the police to their suspicions that physical abuse was the cause of D’s death, particularly blunt force trauma to her cranium that caused fatal brain damage.
Police then took Roni in for questioning, and he eventually confessed to killing D. He has been charged with infanticide under Indonesia’s Child Protection Law and may face up to 15 years in prison.
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