Police in Tangerang city have arrested a 27-year-old man for alleged physical abuse of a 2-year-old boy, an incident authorities said was triggered by a trivial matter.
The suspect, identified by his initials ASD, was the boyfriend of the victim’s aunt. He reportedly filmed himself beating the boy, the video of which went viral on social media. The video also alerted local police to the child abuse, leading to ASD’s arrest this week.
According to the police, on Feb. 28, ASD was sleeping when the victim’s cries jolted him awake. After taking the victim to the toilet, ASD gave the boy his phone to play with to stop his crying. However, ASD was livid when the boy dropped his phone, and went on to hit the boy 25 times.
“The suspect thought that the victim was naughty, and he thought that hitting the victim would teach him a lesson,” Tangerang Police Chief Wahyu Sri Bintoro said at a press conference yesterday.
“The suspect also filmed the incident in order to threaten the victim, in that if he were to throw another tantrum, the suspect would beat the victim like in the video.”
It’s not clear who uploaded the video online.
The boy reportedly received minor injuries from the abuse and has since recovered.
Meanwhile, ASD was charged with child abuse under the Child Protection Law and may face up to five years in prison.
