Failed by Indonesia: the girl, 15, raped by her brother and jailed for abortion
The grisly truth behind a baby’s death has caused an outcry in a country where abortion laws take scant heed of circumstance
Kate Lamb in Jambi
Thu 16 Aug 2018
Fika* gave birth alone in her room at night. The baby came out alive.
According to her testimony, the 15-year-old from Sumatra cut the umbilical cord with a razor and then the baby went limp and died. She held it up, but it didn’t cry.
After that she wrapped the tiny body in a tablecloth and hid it under her bed, she told her lawyer. At dawn she buried it in a shallow grave next to a palm tree by her house.