Police in Jakarta say a 25-year-old man who was set to marry his 41-year-old fiancee in August confessed to brutally murdering her last Thursday and then setting fire to the corpse in an attempt to cover up his crime.
The man, identified by police by his initials ST, was arrested by police on Friday. Investigators say he killed his fiance, identified as LR, after a fight involving the cost of their upcoming wedding.
“(The suspect) felt hurt and humiliated, because the victim often brought up the cost of their wedding. The cost of the wedding was being financed by the victim’s family, so the suspect became angry and could not control his emotions,” Tambora Police Chief Iver Manossoh told Merdeka today.
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Iver said the couple had just taken their pre-wedding photos just a few days before the murder took place on Thursday following an agreement by both families that the bride’s side would handle the full costs of the wedding.
The murder took place at LT’s family house in Gambir, Central Jakarta, when she was home alone and ST was visiting her. ST told investigators that LR first picked up a knife and threatened him, but that he then grabbed it out of her hands and stabbed her. According to investigators she was stabbed four times, including wounds to her back.
After the murder, police say ST asked two of his friends to help him bring LR’s body to Karang Serang Village Beach in Tangerang where he set it on fire in order to cover up his crime. One of those friends apparently had a guilty conscience and called the police to tell them what had happened, leading police to arrest ST soon after.
Police said they were still investigating the case but so far did not see any evidence that anybody but ST was involved in the murder. For the killing and attempted cover-up, he faces up to 15 years in jail.
Although LT’s murder is shocking, it also fits within a relatively common narrative of deadly domestic violence in Indonesia. According to the Menghitung Pembunuhan Perempuan (Counting Dead Women: Indonesia) report compiled by activist Kate Walton, 168 women were killed in Indonesia in 2017. All but four victims were killed by men and 50% were killed by their intimate partners. The most common ‘reason’ provided by killers was that they had argued or were jealous and the most common weapon used was a knife.
