The Murder of Engeline

A missing-child report in Denpasar

Engeline was an eight-year-old elementary-school student living with her adoptive mother in Denpasar. She was reported missing on May 16, 2015. The disappearance drew extensive public attention in Bali and across Indonesia, with early coverage treating the case as a search for a missing child.

On June 10, 2015, investigators found Engeline's body buried on the property where she had lived. The discovery changed the case from a disappearance into a homicide investigation and focused scrutiny on people inside the household.

The investigation

Police gathered witness statements and physical evidence from the home. Prosecutors ultimately accused Margriet Megawe, Engeline's adoptive mother, of planned murder as well as offences connected to exploitation, neglect and discriminatory treatment of the child. Margriet denied the accusations and her lawyers challenged the prosecution's case.

Another household worker, Agus Tae Hamda May, was prosecuted in a separate but related case. The court did not treat the defendants as interchangeable: Margriet was accused and later convicted as the person responsible for the planned killing, while Agus was convicted of assisting it and received a different sentence.

Margriet's trial and life sentence

On February 29, 2016, the Denpasar District Court found Margriet guilty of premeditated murder under Article 340 of Indonesia's Criminal Code. ANTARA's court report also records findings on economic exploitation and discriminatory treatment under child-protection legislation.

The court imposed life imprisonment, matching the prosecution's request. The judgment is important not only because of the sentence but because it established Margriet's criminal responsibility after a full trial rather than leaving the case at the level of police suspicion or public allegation.

Agus Tae Hamda May

Agus Tae Hamda May was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Indonesia's Witness and Victim Protection Agency, LPSK, described the judgment as a conviction for assisting the premeditated murder. Keeping that wording distinct from Margriet's conviction avoids overstating his legal role.

LPSK also said it had protected witnesses in the proceedings so they could testify without intimidation. That institutional detail helps explain how witness evidence was handled in a case that had generated intense public attention.

The appeals court upheld the sentences

Both defendants appealed. In May 2016, the Denpasar High Court upheld the lower-court judgments: Margriet's life sentence remained in place and Agus's 10-year term was also affirmed. The appellate result left the core criminal findings unchanged.

For this archive, that makes the case appropriately classified as solved/adjudicated. It is not based on a media theory about what happened inside the home; it is based on convictions reviewed at the appellate level.

Margriet died in custody in 2024

On December 7, 2024, Indonesian corrections officials confirmed that Margriet had died while serving her life sentence. ANTARA reported that she had advanced chronic kidney disease and had been receiving dialysis. Her death ended her imprisonment but did not overturn or erase the murder conviction.

This distinction is important in the current-status section: a convicted person's death in custody changes custodial status, not the legal finding made by the court.

Timeline

Current status

Engeline's murder is legally adjudicated. Margriet Megawe's life sentence was upheld on appeal and remained in force until her death in custody in 2024. Agus Tae Hamda May's 10-year sentence was likewise affirmed by the Denpasar High Court. This archive therefore lists the case as solved without adding unproven claims beyond the court record.

Related Indonesia case files