Dangdut megastar Lesti Kejora has reportedly withdrawn the domestic violence complaint against her husband, actor Rizky Billar, soon after he was arrested by police.
Lesti filed the complaint on Sept. 28, alleging that Rizky had assaulted her after she confronted him about his alleged infidelity.
Police heard from Lesti that Rizky slammed her onto a bed and choked her until she fell on the floor. Lesti was pictured wearing a neck brace in hospital a few days later.
Related — Lesti Kejora and Rizky Billar win ‘best couple’ award amid domestic violence storm
Earlier this week, CCTV footage surfaced showing a separate incident in which Rizky attempted to throw a pool ball at Lesti. Thankfully, he missed as he slipped and fell before making the throw.
Rizky was placed in police detention yesterday after receiving domestic violence charges, which carry a maximum five-year sentence.
In a surprising twist, Lesti, after having visited Rizky in detention at the South Jakarta Police yesterday, decided to retract her complaint against him, her lawyer Philipus Sitepu confirmed.
Philipus says Lesti was not pressured to drop the complaint.
“There were no external parties involved. This is purely the pair wanting to achieve peace together,” Philipus said.
Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Endra Zulpan said Rizky was placed under detention for 20 days based on Lesti’s original complaint. It remains to be seen if he would be released under restorative justice principles or if police are legally compelled to resume their domestic violence investigation against him with or without a complaint.
We do hope, for the sake of justice in domestic violence cases in general, that Lesti was indeed not pressured to pull her complaint and that she will remain safe.
