Hidden Away
Written by Ramon and Shandy Tengkano
Editor's Note: Reader discretion is advised; this story covers difficult topics such as abuse.
We have the joy of receiving stories from all over Indonesia from viewers and friends with whom we establish a good prayer network to strengthen and empower each other in Christ. Our mission to broadcast God’s love does not stop when our viewers receive our satellite TV signal in their homes; we often make ourselves available for things beyond telephone calls.
We have helped name a newborn baby; we have reconciled broken marriages; we have sent counsel and books on people’s diets; we have helped young families choose schools for their children; we have even opened our house for strangers to live with us.
This February we received a phone call from south-central Indonesia about a 30-year-old woman named Santi.* Santi is eight months pregnant, carrying her fourth child. She has been deprived of all of her rights growing up. She never went to school, and she did not learn Indonesian, the national language. She never learned how to read and write. Her mother kept her in very secret confinement, and she never left home. Santi never received her birth certificate or any formal identification.
Santi has been treated badly since she was young, when her biological father left the family and her mother remarried a man named Petrus.* Her mother and stepfather physically and mentally abused her. She has given birth to three children, with the fourth child on the way, all from her own stepfather, Petrus. The abuse started when Santi was only twelve, and Santi’s mother did not seem to have the courage to stop her husband from violating her daughter. Her mother may have tried, but Petrus was seemingly violent toward his wife, reportedly beating her frequently. The poor family had no choice but to succumb to Petrus’ evil demands. Santi never left home for anything at all, so reporting to the police was never an option.
This time was different. Santi had had enough. She refused to deliver her fourth child at home. She ran to her neighbor’s house to tell her story, and she’s currently being kept at her relative’s home in the next village. Everyone was shocked to hear the news that Petrus is the father of all of Santi’s children. To try and protect themselves, Petrus and his wife lied about Santi’s children, labeling Santi as everything she is not. All of Santi’s family members are now angry, and they have all reported to the police. The police cannot do anything because there have been no traces of rape, and because Santi is an adult and has had three children with her alleged rapist. The case is being investigated, but at the moment, the authorities have no way to charge Petrus with any crime.
We received the call to help and bring Santi away from her home, where she never wants to return. We agreed to help, but without proper identification Santi cannot fly on an airplane nor board a ship to get here. We were able to mediate with the local officials, however. The village authorities recently decided to expel Petrus, his wife, and their own biological children from the village, and give Santi compensation, including the house and land where she grew up. This will have to happen before she gives birth within the next month.
This may not be enough compensation, as she has been brutally treated for eighteen years, but we all pray that God’s will and mercy will be upon her, and justice will be served. We long to help women and children like Santi. A great number of similar cases have been reported in that area. We hope to produce more TV programs to educate people on family, marriage, and rights that are often neglected. We also have land in the area where in the future we would like to establish a safe house: a center of influence where education and legal protection can be given to women and children who are otherwise without defense. Please pray for these women, children and all of God’s people.
*Names have been changed.
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