For years, Noorman had entrusted his two young children to Little Aresha, a daycare centre near his home in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta which advertises its well-equipped facilities and variety of play activities.
So it came as a shock last Friday when the civil servant got a frantic phone call from a friend. Police were raiding the daycare centre, his friend said, go pick up your children right now.
“We were then shown a video of the raid, showing the children with their hands and feet tied up, with no clothes and only wearing diapers,” Noorman told BBC Indonesian.The raid lifted the lid on an alleged culture of abuse within the walls of the centre, which authorities say have involved dozens of children under its care, in a case that has gripped the nation.
The Yogyakarta police have accused 13 people – including the centre’s principal, the head of the Little Aresha Foundation and its caregivers – of multiple child protection offences.
The investigation has also prompted further scrutiny of the country’s childcare centres, many of which authorities say are not properly licensed.
The raid lifted the lid on an alleged culture of abuse within the walls of the centre, which authorities say have involved dozens of children under its care, in a case that has gripped the nation.
The Yogyakarta police have accused 13 people – including the centre’s principal, the head of the Little Aresha Foundation and its caregivers – of multiple child protection offences.
The investigation has also prompted further scrutiny of the country’s childcare centres, many of which authorities say are not properly licensed.
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