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01-05-2026
Warning: this piece contains descriptions of alleged child abuse.
JAKARTA: For years, Noorman had entrusted his two young children to Little Aresha, a daycare centre near his home in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta which advertises its well-equipped facilities and variety of play activities.
So it came as a shock last Friday when the civil servant got a frantic phone call from a friend. Police were raiding the daycare centre, his friend said, go pick up your children right now.
“We were then shown a video of the raid, showing the children with their hands and feet tied up, with no clothes and only wearing diapers,” Noorman told BBC Indonesian.
The raid lifted the lid on an alleged culture of abuse within the walls of the centre, which authorities say have involved dozens of children under its care, in a case that has gripped the nation.
The Yogyakarta police have accused 13 people including the centre’s principal, the head of the Little Aresha Foundation and its caregivers of multiple child protection offences.
The investigation has also prompted further scrutiny of the country’s childcare centres, many of which authorities say are not properly licensed.
How it came to light
The raid at Little Aresha came after a former employee lodged a police report claiming that children had suffered inhumane treatment at the centre.
Police, who raided the centre last Friday, said they found evidence of the alleged mistreatment; children whose hands and feet were tied, or who had injuries.
Police also found several tiny rooms measuring about 3m (10ft) wide, each crammed with as many as 20 children, said Rizki Adrian, head of the Yogyakarta police criminal investigation unit.
Out of the 103 children enrolled in the daycare, at least 53 are believed to be victims of physical abuse or neglect, Rizki said. He added that the majority of the victims were under two years old.
On Saturday, police detained and questioned around 30 people from the childcare centre. Thirteen of them have since been arrested and accused of mistreatment and neglect.
Authorities have confirmed that Little Aresha did not have an operating permit.
Little Aresha, which has been closed since the raid, has not publicly responded to the investigation.
The Yogyakarta government has called for the alleged victims to receive thorough psychological and physical assessments.
Trauma healing services will also be available to the parents of victims, authorities said.
Anger and guilt
It has been a nightmare discovery for parents like Noorman, who enrolled his daughter there in 2022 when she was two years old.
“The facilities offered include air-conditioned rooms, beds, lunch and a variety of play activities,” Noorman said. “That’s why we were drawn to Little Aresha because, frankly, the branding is excellent.”
He added that the woman who headed the foundation behind the childcare was very “gentle and communicative”.
In 2024, when his son turned three months old, Noorman enrolled him in the centre too.
“Behind all this, we didn’t expect that the children at the daycare would be treated so poorly,” Noorman said. (BBC)
