The teen television commercial model who ran away from her home in East Jakarta to stay with a family in Sorong, West Papua, has revealed that she was ill-treated by her mother.

Sr. Comr. Rikwanto, a spokesman for the Jakarta Police, said 13-year-old Ruvitasari Siahaan, better known as Vita, claimed she had been unhappy with being “exploited” by her mother, Lili.

“We investigated the couple in Sorong with whom she was staying and one of their associates, and all three said Vita came to them of her own free will because she said she was no longer happy and couldn’t live at home anymore,” Rikwanto said.

“She told them that she was constantly exploited to do commercials,” he added.

Rikwanto said that not long after Vita left home on Jan. 9, she sent her family a message in which she told them not to look for her and that “I want to live a better life.”

He said Vita also complained about not getting an education. Lili did not enroll Vita in school, promising instead to homeschool her, though she stopped lessons soon after, Rikwanto said.

“As for allegations of physical abuse, we’re still looking into those,” he added.

“Vita claims she was hit until she got bruises, had her hair yanked and got yelled at,” Rikwanto said. “We plan to check with the mother about whether she really did all that.”

Vita was found on Thursday in Sorong, where she was staying with a woman identified only as Maya and Maya’s husband. She said she had traveled there by ship from Jakarta with Mulyati, one of Maya’s friends, on Jan. 14.

Upon her return to Jakarta on Friday, where she was reunited with her mother, Vita said she could not stand living with Lili anymore.

“She often hits me over the smallest things,” Vita said, her voice breaking.

“Even if I play she gets mad,” she added.

Lili claimed she only hit her daughter because she loved her.

“She’s still young and unstable,” Lili said. “I may have yanked her hair once, but that was because she came home late and I was worried.”

She also insisted she had never prohibited Vita from going to school.

“I just don’t want her to go far because I’ll miss her,” Lili said.

Vita has filmed commercials for shampoo, instant noodles and powdered milk, often accompanied by her mother.