Tempted by $80,000 Worth of Kidneys

On Tuesday (10/1/2023) a white flag was raised on the gate at Jl. Batua Raya 7 in Makassar, signaling the death of 11-year-old M. Fadil Sadewa while ending his family’s search that began on Sunday evening (8/1/2023).

KOMPAS/RENY SRI AYU ARMAN

Neighbors visited the funeral home for the family of a child kidnapping and murder victim, namely M Fadil Sadewa (11) on Jalan Batua Raya Makassar, Tuesday (10/1/2023). Dewa becomes a victim of kidnapping and murder by perpetrators who are also underage.

Dewa, as M. Fadil Sadewa was called, was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday (10/1) by officers of the Rappocini Subdistrict Police in Makassar, South Sulawesi. His body was found in a plastic trash bag, his hands and feet bound.

The discovery of Dewa’s body was shocking. However, no less shocking were the juvenile perpetrators of Dewa’s kidnapping and murder and the motive for the crime. Two teens, Al, 17, and FA, 14, had kidnapped Dewa because they wanted to sell Dewa’s organs. They had been lured by the price of US$80,000 for human kidneys.

Al claimed he wanted to get the money and give it to his parents to build a house. He had obtained information on the price of kidneys from the internet. Using Google Translate, he sent an email to an address he had found on the internet to make an offer.

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After sending his email, Al planned to kidnap Dewa, who lived on Jl. Batua Raya, several blocks from his house. He kidnapped Dewa at a minimarket and took the victim to his house, which was empty at the time because Al’s parents were tending to their stall, located a slight distance from their home.

At his house, AI waited for a reply to his email until late at night, but he received no response. He became confused and called FA.

“I was at home when AI called. When I got there, he was going to kill Dewa,” said FA.

The pair killed Dewa that night. They wrapped up Dewa’s body, transported it by motorcycle and dumped it under the bridge on Jl. Inspeksi PAM at Nipa-Nipa Reservoir.

The autopsy results showed that Dewa had died from injury to his neck due to strangulation and impact injuries to the head.

Hard-working child

Grief pervaded Dewa’s family home. The small semipermanent house in a narrow alley was crowded with mourners. The victim was known as a kindhearted, obedient and hard-working child. He did whatever task he could after returning home from Mandiri Elementary School. He cleaned the house and worked as a porter at the local market and as an informal parking attendant at the minimarket not far from his house.

Aminah Daeng Bau, 50, the victim’s grandmother, said that Dewa’s parents had separated when he was 6. His father later remarried and did not live with Dewa. His mother was a migrant worker in Malaysia, and had not come home even once in the five years she had been there.

Dewa’s grandmother and aunt looked after him. His aunt Aisyah, 23, recounted that at the time of the kidnapping, Dewa and his cousin Alif, 12, were working as parking attendants at the minimarket, which they did almost every afternoon.

KOMPAS/RENY SRI AYU ARMAN

Aisyah (22), the aunt of the kidnapping and murder victim M Fadil Sadewa (11) shows a photo of her nephew at the funeral home in Makassar, Tuesday (10/1/2023).

According to Alif, Al approached Dewa at the minimarket at around 5:30 p.m., asking Dewa to clean his house for Rp 50,000.

“I refused to follow him. I told Dewa not to go with him because he could be a child kidnapper. But Dewa said he would go and clean the house for the money. So, he left,” said Alif.

After Dewa had been driven away on a motorcycle, Alif went to his grandmother’s house and told her what had happened. The family promptly started a search for Dewa. All through the night, his family searched the nearby streets, asking the residents if they had seen Dewa, but their attempts were in vain.

They also filed a report with the Panakkukang Subdistrict Police, but as Dewa had been missing for only two hours, the report was not processed. The next day, on Monday afternoon (9/1), they again reported that Dewa was missing, and the police took immediate action.

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The police checked the area around the minimarket and searched for witnesses, as well as reviewed footage from surveillance cameras. From the footage, the police identified and captured the culprit, and found the victim’s body under the bridge.

Makassar City Police chief Sr. Comr. Budhi Haryanto said that so far, there was no indication that other people or networks had been involved in the crime. The two perpetrators had gathered vague information from the internet and were tempted by the big sum.

“The suspects consumed negative information from the internet about [selling] human organs, which carried a high price. Then, without a second thought, they carried out the kidnapping because they wanting to get the money and be rich. When there was no response from the address to which the email had been sent, they became confused and finally killed the victim,” he said.

The punishment should not be mere rehabilitation for trauma because this is a serious crime.

Heri Tahir, a criminology professor at the State University of Makassar, said that although this case involved minors as perpetrators, it had been categorized as an extraordinary crime.

“Therefore, the punishment should not be mere rehabilitation for trauma because this is a serious crime. The rule also stipulates that if the crime committed is liable to imprisonment of more than 7 years, child protection is not mandatory although the punishment may not be death,” he said.

An observer of children and women’s issues, Alita Karen Labobar, said the case should be the responsibility of all parties. Children who turned to crime generally gained information easily from various media and unfortunately, did not have high literacy.

“This is an occasion to reconsider the importance of being mindful of [strangers],” she added.

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.