Although instances of mob violence are unfortunately not uncommon in Indonesia, the horrific story of a man who was beaten and burned alive by an angry mob after being accused of stealing mosque speakers in Bekasi on Wednesday has gripped the public due to information circulating on social media stating the victim, identified by his initials MA, was not a thief at all but actually an audio technician whose own speakers were mistaken for those of the mosque’s.
The question of MA’s innocence has also been raised by many people who knew him and doubted that he would ever steal. However, the police said they dismissed the possibility after receiving incriminating testimony against MA from the mosque’s caretaker. While speaking on behalf of MA’s family, police said they had accepted his fate, refused to press charges against any of the attackers, and even refused an autopsy on MA’s body.
But MA’s wife, 25-year-old Siti Zubaidah, is now demanding that the police bring her husband’s attackers to justice. Siti, who is now left to care for their four-year-old son and is also six months pregnant, said she has reasons to believe that her husband was wrongly accused of theft.
“My husband (worked by) buying and selling used (sound) amplifiers, fixing speakers,” Siti said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
“(The police) said my husband stole amplifiers at a mosque in Babelan, and was then beaten and burned alive. I didn’t believe it at first, it couldn’t have been my husband. If I hadn’t seen the photos I would never believe that it was my husband.”
Siti believes the speakers that the mob thought her husband had stolen were actually obtained elsewhere, and that her husband had gone into the mosque to pray.
“I saw (a video) on Youtube implying the mosque’s speakers were still there. Someone said that in the video, but now the video is gone,” she said.
However, Siti conceded that there was something off in her husband stopping over at that particular mosque, as it was not on his usual route.
“But even if my husband was guilty, even if he had committed theft, he shouldn’t have been tortured and burned alive like that. He’s not an animal,” she said.
The police say they are hunting down the perpetrators of the brutal torture and burning alive of MA, but have not yet made any arrests.
