Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, March 03, 2011
An American man in Bali has threatened to kill himself and his four children if he is forced to the leave the country without them.
Eli Gattenio, 50, lives with his four daughters, aged three to 11, in a villa in Seminyak following his divorce from an Indonesian woman, Sari Soraya Ruka, in May 2010.
After the divorce, Gattenio faces deportation, but he is unable to take his children to the United States with him.
In protest, the father has locked himself and his four daughters — Indigo, 11, Hope and Joy, both 9, and Nadia, 3 — inside the villa since Wednesday. All the doors and windows have been bolted shut.
Gattenio on Thursday threatened to kill himself and his daughter by lighting a gas canister to cause an explosion.
He said he had been taking care of his daughters on his own.
“My former wife took my passport and my children’s passports. I don’t know where she is now, she could be in Bali or Bekasi. She also took everything I had and put her name on it, I have nothing left but my children,” Gattenio said on Thursday.
He said he had sought help from various institutions to allow him to the leave the country with his children.
“I have filed a report to the police, the US Consulate, the Bali Immigration Office and spoken to local and foreign journalists,” Gattenio said.
“I have sent a letter to the presidents [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and US President Barack Obama] two months ago but there has been no follow up. I am waiting for responses from the presidents or they must allow us [he and his children] to die together,” he said.
Gattenio recently tried to kill himself by jumping from the rooftop of the villa, but security officers managed to persuade him otherwise.
Kuta Police were not available for comment.
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