Parents of Indonesian children sickened by free school meals file police complaint

Sixty Indonesian parents have lodged a police complaint against a government program providing free school meals, a development that marks the first legal challenge to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship initiative. The complaint, filed on August 31 but only now being reported, alleges negligence, corruption, and mismanagement in the program which has already been implicated in over 50,000 cases of food poisoning.

The parents, represented by their lawyer Aslia Sijabat, are seeking criminal charges, an investigation, and compensation for their children's illnesses. The program is aimed at providing nutrition to 83 million school children and pregnant mothers across Indonesia, but its financial and logistical viability has come under scrutiny.

At least 300 students in several high schools in North Sumatra's Karo region fell ill after consuming the free meals in mid-August, with some hospitalized. The parents are also preparing a separate lawsuit against the government for the incidents that have occurred in other regions, creating a sense of impunity. The police and the National Nutrition Agency have not commented on the complaint.