Jakarta – A 13-year-old girl from Denpasar, Bali, who got pregnant after being allegedly raped multiple times by her cousin and who was forced to marry him, was reportedly raped again by her father-in-law after delivering the baby.
The alleged incident came to light after officials from the South Denpasar Community Health Center (Puskesmas) felt suspicious of the girl's behavior during a health checkup. The officials then alerted authorities.
The girl later told officials from Denpasar's Integrated Care Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (P2TP2A) that she had been raped.
"After communicating with her, she admitted that she was raped by her cousin until she got pregnant. After the baby was born, she was raped by her father-in-law," Gusti Ayu Agung Yuli Marhaeningsih, a legal advisor from the Denpasar P2TP2A, said on Friday as reported by Tribunnews.com.
Marhaeni said the girl and her parents had come to the P2TP2A office for further questioning.
"Her parents said that she had been raped by her cousin who lived near their house. However, they decided not to report the incident to the police, as the perpetrator had agreed to take responsibility for his action by marrying her," she said.
The girl and her alleged rapist did not register their marriage, as they are both still minors.
"A court order is necessary to register a child marriage. Since they did not carry out the procedures, they decided to marry unofficially," Marhaeningsih said.
She also explained that the baby was taken from the girl by other family members shortly after it was born in early 2020.
Marhaeningsih said that the girl's parents did not know what they should do about the incident, as they were unsure about legal matters. She said officials from the Denpasar P2TP2A had advised the girl's parents to report the incident to the police as the alleged incident violated the law.
"We had advised them to go to the police, but they said they were still thinking about it since the girl would be putting her husband and her father-in-law behind bars," she said. (nal)