In Indonesia, the body of a 14-year-old female student was discovered after she had been set on fire by her boyfriend—also 14 (or possibly an ex-boyfriend she had just broken up with). While the boyfriend has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, some online are arguing that the death penalty would be more appropriate. Includes related images and videos.
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Images of the 14-year-old female junior high school student taken while she was alive.
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Image of a 14-year-old boyfriend
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Images of the body of a 14-year-old female junior high school student
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Indonesia’s juvenile law sets a 10-year maximum prison sentence.
Indonesia’s juvenile justice system sets a clear upper limit on the sentences that can be imposed on juvenile offenders. Article 81, Paragraph 6 of the Juvenile Justice System Law (Law No. 11 of 2012) stipulates that even for serious crimes that would warrant the death penalty or life imprisonment for adults, the maximum sentence for a minor is ten years’ imprisonment. Furthermore, Article 79, Paragraph 2 of the same law establishes that, as a general rule, any custodial sentence imposed on a minor is limited to half the maximum sentence applicable to an adult.
The ten-year prison sentence handed down by the Nabire District Court on September 4, 2026, matched the prosecution’s demand and also represents the effective legal maximum for a minor under the Indonesian justice system. In other words, this verdict was not merely a case of a “lenient” penalty being chosen; rather, it was the result of there being no legal scope to impose a harsher sentence.
The calls for the death penalty seen online may stem, in part, from a lack of public awareness regarding these statutory sentencing limits.
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