Mother kills baby out of fear of HIV infection

The North Jakarta District Court sentenced a woman with HIV to three years in prison on Monday for killing her baby immediately after its birth last year.

The woman, identified only as LM, gave birth to her baby in October last year in a small public bathroom near a river behind her house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, and directly suffocated the baby and threw it into the river.

“The reason she did that was her fear that having transmitted HIV to the baby it might have a difficult life,” said her lawyer Albert Wirya from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat).

The court found that LM had violated Article 341 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on infanticide, with a maximum seven years’ imprisonment.

The prosecutors had demanded five years.

“We find that the article that was used to charge LM was correct, but still not appropriate for her situation. Her legal process was fair from the investigation, but I regret the fact that the police couldn’t catch the other guilty parties, like her husband who committed domestic violence,” said Albert.

LM was infected by her husband, Albert claimed./rga