Romi Sepriawan, 30, has been accused of murdering his pregnant wife, 29-year-old Erni, in what appears to be one of the most gruesome homicide cases in Indonesia in recent history.
According to the police, the couple, hailing from Indonesia’s Bengkulu Province, got into a heated argument yesterday afternoon. Romi then went to a neighbor to ask for a machete, which he said was for hacking open a coconut. When he arrived home, he fatally slashed Erni — who was 8 months pregnant — in the neck with the machete.
“He was jealous, because he suspected his wife had cheated on him. The suspect asked for her phone to be unlocked, but she didn’t give it to him,” Indamawan said today, as quoted by Detik.
With Erni dead, Romi cut open her stomach, telling the police that he wanted to save his unborn baby. But, after failing to get the baby out, Romi ran away.
Neighbors arrived at the crime scene soon after and found Erni’s lifeless body with her torso slashed open. Luckily, they were able to safely take out the baby, who, miraculously, survived.
Romi reportedly turned himself in to the police. Authorities have not yet announced what charges he will face.
Meanwhile, the baby boy is receiving intensive treatment at a police hospital in Bengkulu. The hospital says the two-day old is expected to pull through without complications.
“He was 36 weeks [in the womb] when [the murder] happened, so he could’ve been born around this time,” Sri Hastuti, a hospital employee, said today, as quoted by Kompas.
It isn’t clear yet if Romi had a history of abuse towards Erni. In Indonesia, there have been numerous reports about men with histories of domestic violence taking the lives of their wives (and sometimes, their children too) out of anger. Domestic violence is a highly taboo topic in Indonesia, but incidents of it and other forms of gender-based violence in the country are believed to be at epidemic levels by rights activists.
