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US Man Maintains Suicide, Murder Threat
Jakarta Globe | March 09, 2011

American Eli Gattineo, 50, and his four children in their Bali villa. Eli threatens to commit suicide with his children if the government deports him or does not allow him to leave the country with them. (Photo Source: SCTV) American Eli Gattineo, 50, and his four children in their Bali villa. Eli threatens to commit suicide with his children if the government deports him or does not allow him to leave the country with them. (Photo Source: SCTV)
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DrDez
8:28am Mar 11, 2011

SOny

Noone other that the father seems to care about the kids

The mum can solve this by returning the passports - she seemingly cares not for the kids

Prenups dont work - asset holding (outside the country is your freind there BB)

BilboBaggins
9:30pm Mar 10, 2011

Prenups do exist here, but they are not what a westerner would understand them to be.

My understanding is that an Indonesian women who marries a foreigner are not entitled to own property in Indonesia.

A "prenup" is required to enable her to buy property by ensuring that any property bought by such a women is hers and that the husband has no claim on it if they separate. It doesn't matter that he probably paid for it.

Be warned.

jetset24
6:36am Mar 10, 2011

The plot thickens...Something just doesn't click. However the clock is ticking and the father's determination is one click away from destroying himself and his children in the process.

Why is this drama dragging its feet in the first place...the father's intentions may obviously be premeditated at this point. Send in the Densus 88 and save the children while at it.

Excuse me VALKYRIE...I strongly disagree with your 3rd paragraph. A bit of a generalization, don't you think?? This may also happen in just about anywhere in the world. I know of some people in this country who may not have perfect marriages but nothing would equate to this unfortunate story. And for the record prenuptial agreements do exist in this country. Interracial married couples would need to research more wisely.


Valkyrie
8:22pm Mar 9, 2011

It is indeed a very sad situation and I truly hope that the issue can be resolved...only for the sake of the children and of course their marriage.

To the best of my knowledge, if their marriage was legitimate, the children, although currently holding Indonesian citizenship will be able to choose their nationality when they reach 17 years of age.

I believe issues of this nature (although under different circumstances) are happening to expatriates married to locals.

Prenuptial agreements? Don't know actually if it's possible here.

SonyLaksono
8:14pm Mar 9, 2011

@BilboBaggins

Just wait and see...

A day before he is due to be deported, American Elli Gattenio has reiterated his threat to blow up his Bali villa, killing himself and his daughters, if he is forced to leave the country without them.

Gattenio has locked himself and his four daughters, aged three to 11, in his villa over the past week, protesting the immigration office’s plan to deport him.

Gattenio has lived with his daughters in Seminyak, Kuta, since he divorced their Indonesian mother, Sari Soraya Ruka, in May 2010.

The Bali Immigration Office have told him to leave Indonesia or face deportation on March 10.

“Sari [his former wife], if you see this, please for our children’s sake, stop lying and surrender yourself to the police as the children wanted you to, and tell the truth,” Eli was quoted as saying by SCTV. “The children had made their choice and you walked away from them, so it is time to face the consequences.”

Gattenio has accused his ex-wife of taking away his immigration documents, including the children’s and his passports.

In February, the Bali’s Commission for Children Protection (KPAID) said Gattenio’s children had filed a report to the police against their mother for abandoning them. KPAID said the Bali’s District Prosecutor’s Office asked them to assist the eldest daughter, 11-year-old Indigo, in the legal case.

“We have received an unofficial request from the District Prosecutor’s Office to assist Indigo, but we also hope her father, Eli, can assist her because he is the closest person to the children,” the commission’s chairwoman Sri Wahyuni told the Bali Post.

Indigo reported the case on behalf of her siblings Hope and Joy, both 9, and Nadia, 3.

Gattenio previously 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 on March 3.

“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.

The Jakarta Globe contacted the Bali Police and the US Embassy, but the calls remained unanswered.

Read the original story here.