A senior Surabaya high school student is under investigation amid allegations that she strangled her new-born baby boy and dumped the body in her school toilet after a secret birth.
Benowo Police Chief Adjutant Adjid told news portal Detik.com that they would proceed slowly with the investigation and conduct questioning of the teenager only after her she was declared physically and mentally ready by doctors and psychiatrists.
“We have to wait until she is strong enough to tell us how the baby could end up in the cardboard box in the school toilet with a cord around his neck,” Adjid said.
Adjid said RD, 17, a second-year student at SMA 12 in Benowo, a suburb of Surabaya, had claimed that she gave birth to the baby boy in the bathroom of her home without the knowledge of her parents.
“She told us that she gagged herself to prevent her parents from hearing the screams during labor,” Adjid told the news portal. “But we are still verifying her statement.”
He said the baby was found at 7 a.m. on Monday in the teachers’ toilet of the school. The child, found in a cardboard box, was found with a cord tied around his neck.
Benowo Police, called to investigate the discovery, summoned a midwife to begin testing all the female students in the school.
Police, however, grew suspicious when RD hid in the toilet and refused to be seen by the midwife.
“When it was her turn to see the midwife, she looked scared and ran to hide in the toilet. She finally came out after she was persuaded by one of the teachers,” Adjid said.
A medical inspection proved that the school girl had given birth.
“She didn’t admit it at first but when we showed her the test results, she finally gave in,” Adjid said.
Part of the investigation would also focus on who had fathered the child.
