The Jakarta Globe, February 04, 2013
A 21-year-old nanny was charged with murder after allegedly staging a fake robbery on Thursday in an attempt to cover up the accidental death of her employer’s newborn baby in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
The nanny, identified only as “AI,” reportedly covered the five month old’s face with a sarong when it wouldn’t stop crying. She was later shocked to discover that the baby had stopped breathing after she returned from ironing clothes, Jakarta Police’ spokesman, Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, said Monday.
“She couldn’t stand that the baby kept on crying, [so] she covered the baby’s face, arms, and body with a piece of long fabric,” he said. “She did that to quiet the baby down,”
When she noticed that the child had stopped breathing, the nanny allegedly staged a fake robbery, tying herself up and stuffing socks in her own mouth, Rikwanto said.
“She panicked, so she made up a scenario as if the house had been robbed,” he said. “She was found by the victim’s relative and said there had been a robbery.”
But police in Tanah Abang found some inconsistencies in her story, Rikwanto explained. She later admitted during questioning that she fabricated the robbery to try to cover up her alleged role in the baby’s death, he said.
“She realized she had committed a murder, so she made it as if there had been a robbery,” he said.
The nanny was born in Banten and was hired by the family as a babysitter three months ago. The family told her to do their laundry while watching the child, police said.