Mother Bakar Baby After Birth, Police Check 6 Witnesses

A number of officers from the Madiun Regency Social Service and Madiun Police were on guard at the hospital for the mother of the perpetrator of the burning of a baby who was still undergoing medical treatment at the Dolopo Hospital, Madiun Regency, East Java, Thursday (9/2/2023). (ANTARA)

Madiun Police Criminal Investigation Unit officers examined as many as six witnesses in the case of a mother with the initials IS (36), a resident of Ngranget Village, Dagangan District, Madiun Regency, East Java, who had the heart to burn her baby when she was just born and died.

"So far, as many as six witnesses have been questioned regarding the case of burning the baby," said Head of the Madiun Police Criminal Investigation Unit, AKP Danang Eko Abrianto, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, February 9.

According to him, the six witnesses came from the families of the perpetrators, neighbors, religious leaders, to local village officials.

Currently, IS perpetrators are still undergoing intensive care at the Dolopo Hospital, Madiun Regency due to bleeding after giving birth.

Later, after IS's condition is stable and healthy, the police will conduct an examination of the perpetrator. In addition to asking for information, the police will also conduct an examination of the perpetrator's mental condition.

Regarding the case, the police are still waiting for the autopsy results of the baby's body that caught fire at Labfor Nganjuk to determine the exact cause of the baby's death. Based on the preliminary autopsy results, the baby who was burned was male.

The police are also still waiting for the arrival of the perpetrator's husband who has been working and mostly living in Banyuwangi. In his daily life, IS lives with his first child who goes to grade 4 elementary school.

During the interim examination, IS admitted that she burned her own baby in the furnace of her kitchen. This could be done because she felt hurt and remembered the words of her husband's accusation that the baby she was carrying and born was the result of an affair with another man.

"So the motive is that this mother is hurt by being accused by her husband that the baby that was born was the result of cheating with another man," said Madiun Police Chief AKBP Anton Prasetyo.

The burning of the baby was carried out on Monday, February 6. The act of burning the baby was revealed starting from a neighbor's suspicion because the perpetrator's house has been closed since Friday, February 3, 2023.

The perpetrator's neighbors then knocked on the door, but there was no response. The neighbor then forcibly opened the door and entered the house.

From inside the house, residents smelled the smell of blood palm, the smell was rotten, and there were also bloodstains in the room.

A number of residents finally searched for the source of blood and the unpleasant smell. They then found the baby's body burning over the stove in the kitchen. The body was damaged, only a few black hands remained. At the time of the incident the baby was burned, the perpetrator's first child was not at home.

Meanwhile, IS has fled to a forest area around the Dagangan District. IS was arrested by the police on Tuesday (7/2) in a weak condition due to bleeding left over after giving birth.