A 32-year-old woman from Gresik, East Java was killed yesterday and her husband is the sole suspect in her murder, with their two small children believed to have witnessed the brutal crime.
According to local police, on Saturday, the victim, Visa, went to see her husband, Lutfi (33), at his place of work. She found that he was having a video call with another woman, with whom he is believed to have been having an affair.
Back at home, Lutfi apologized to Visa numerous times but she was too upset to reconcile with him.
“The wife brought a pair of scissors and attacked the suspect. There was a small cut on his left chest as the result of an attack using a sharp object,” Gresik Police Chief Wahyu Sri Bintoro told reporters today, as quoted by Tribun.
According to Wahyu, Lutfi became livid after Visa kicked him.
“When the two were screaming at each other, the children begged, ‘Enough, pa, enough. Take pity on mama,’ while they were grabbing at his shirt,” he said.
Ignoring his children’s pleas, Lutfi allegedly strangled Visa and suffocated her with a pillow right in front of them.
Lutfi turned himself within hours of the incident and confessed to murdering his wife. If convicted of murder, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
A report in 2016 by the Commission on Violence Against Woman (Komnas PA) showed that there were 13,602 reported cases of domestic violence in Indonesia that year, which averages to 37 per day. The commission also found that 75% of all cases were cases of domestic violence.
A bill aimed at eradicating sexual and physical violence against women is being stalled in parliament as traditionalist and conservative parties have wrongly argued that the bill could permit free sex and deviant sexual behavior.
