Mom Kills Herself and Toddler Over Big Debt

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana | September 01, 2010            

Denpasar. A mother in Jimbaran, Bali, desperate because she owned Rp 150 million ($16,600) to a bank and moneylenders, has killed herself and her two-year-old son.

In this file photo, the sun sets over Kuta beach
 in Bali. A woman in Jimbaran, Bali, has killed
 herself and her two-year-old son, desperate because
 she owned Rp 150 million ($16,600) to a bank
 and moneylenders. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)    

Ni Kadek Ariyani, 39, hung herself and her son, Ketut Teguh Ariwiguna, in the bathroom of their house in South Kuta on Tuesday.

The bodies were found by Ni’s son I Gede Komang Titan Brilianata Pratama, 12, when he returned from school. “I came back from school and the house was so quiet,” the shocked young boy said.

“When I entered the bathroom I found my mom and brother were already hanging.”

Police officers investigating the tragedy had not found any sign of violence,  the head of the South Kuta subdistrict police, Adjunct Comr. Nanang Prihasmoko, said.

“We are sure it was suicide” he said. The family has refused autopsy on the bodies, with her husband, Gede Wayan Witawan, 42,  saying:  “We can accept this.”

Police concluded that debt was behind the suicide after questioning Witawan. “The victim wasn’t only indebted to a bank but also to money lenders,” Nanang said.

Ariyani had been running a cooperative business and a service bureau for the past three years but both ventures were not going well and were in danger of going bankrupt.

Witawan, who works at a local golf course, was also unable to cover the debt and Nanang said that his wife had also mortgaged her house to try to pay off her debt.

From the investigation, police assumed that Ariyani had hung her child first and then herself.