Dental Doctor Suspect In Abortion Case In Bali Not Registered In PDGI

Head of Sub-Directorate V of Cyber Crime Ditreskrimsus Polda Bali AKBP Nanang Prihasmoko (right) showed the suspect is a dentist IKAW and evidence of an illegal abortion case. (ANTARA/Rolandus Nampu)

DENPASAR - Bali Police stated that the suspect dentist I Ketut Arik Wiantara (53) who was suspected of opening an illegal abortion practice was not registered as a member of the Indonesian Dental Association (PDGI) professional organization.

Head of Sub-Directorate V of Cyber Crime Ditreskrimsus Bali Police AKBP Nanang Prihasmoko said investigators from the Bali Police Ditreskrimsus have coordinated with the PDGI dentist professional organization in Bali.

"After we coordinated with the Indonesian Dental Association, they said that doctor Arik graduated from a dentist at a university and had the title," said Nanang as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 19.

However, he continued, Arik did not meet the requirements to join the PDGI and did not take care of a registration certificate as a doctor, so he was not considered part of the dental profession community in Indonesia.

"PDGI in the Bali region has issued a statement of attitude that doctor Arik is indeed a dentist in the Bali area but is not included in PDGI because he is not registered," said Nanang.

Based on the information obtained by investigators, the suspect did not attend other education than dentists, especially as an obstetrician or surgeon.

The knowledge and skills carried out by suspect Arik in carrying out the practice of illegal abortion are the results of his autodidact learning from the internet.

After knowing the abortion technique for pregnant women, suspect Arik immediately opened the illegal practice at his house in Gang Bajangan, Padang Luwih Highway, Dalung Village, North Kuta District, Badung Regency, Bali.

Arik has also served two sentences as a convict of illegal abortion practices in 2006 and 2009.

In 2006, Arik was arrested by the police and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison based on a judge's sentence at the Denpasar District Court (PN). After being released, Arik again committed a similar crime so that he was arrested for the second time in 2009 and imprisoned for six years.

According to the suspect Arik's statement to the police, Nanang said that actually the dentist did not want to return to the practice of illegal abortion.

However, Arik reasoned that there were many requests from patients who were on average still in school, so he was tempted to return to commit the crime.

"In terms of abortion, actually after he was arrested twice, the third one was actually he didn't want to; but many forced them to have an abortion, then he helped young children, so an abortion was carried out," explained Nanang.

From 2020 to 2023, suspect Arik admitted to having had an illegal abortion of 20 women. Previously, the Bali Police's Ditreskrimsus found 1,338 lists of patient names recorded in the consulting visit book to Arik.

"We found that in the registration book there were 1,388 lists of names, consisting of men and women. Kami crosscheque (check the cross) to the suspect that there was a special acne patient, then someone consulted it, some were hot and cold, he helped control it," said Nanang.

However, investigators continue to dig up information from the perpetrators and conduct searches regarding the identity of the patient registered in the registration book.

After being traced, investigators found that many names could not be found because the identity listed in the book did not match the ID card.

"Most of the names are initials, not genuine, so they don't match the ID card. That's the obstacle," said Nanang.

Another challenge faced by investigators in developing the case is that suspect Arik did not want to openly convey information about the illegal practice.