Hospitals, health centers alerted of baby abduction

January 12, 2010 / Jakarta Post

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih has asked hospitals and community health centers to raise alert to a new modus of baby abduction, which child protection group says is linked to a human trafficking syndicate.

“I will be working with related institutions to prevent it from recurring,” Endang said Tuesday.

She was responding to the abduction of a newly born baby at the Kembangan health center in West Jakarta, over the weekend.

A woman who said she was a nurse was allegedly responsible for the crime.

Earlier in Oct. 2009, a newly born baby was stolen from his parents at Semarang regional hospital.

Endang said the government would investigate into the cases and take measures to prevent the abduction of newly born babies.

The secretary-general of the Commission for Child Protection, Arist Merdeka Sirait, said this type of crime was on the rise. Arist said there were 32 cases in 2008 and 72 cases in 2009.

He suspected the abduction was connected to a human trafficking ring operating in the country.