Police in Kunto Darissualam district in Riau are searching for a man who allegedly assaulted his wife, with the crucial piece of evidence pinning him to the crime filmed by none other than their daughter.
On Saturday, the suspect, who is identified as a 40-year-old man with the initials DPH, allegedly pushed his wife’s head against the wall during a heated argument at home. Their daughter filmed the domestic violence and posted the video on Facebook in a plea for help.
“We found out [about the incident] from the viral video. So we went to look [for DPH] in his village,” Kunto Darussalam Police Chief Sihol Sitinjak said today.
However, Sihol said DPH had left home and possibly the village shortly after the incident.
To the police, the victim said that she and her husband work at the same palm plantation. Their argument arose after she asked DPH for shopping money, which he refused to give. She said he got angry and assaulted her after learning that she had contacted their boss to pick her up to go to work so she can earn some money for herself.
“The daughter said she was unable to bear seeing her father beating her mother and that he never gave her shopping money,” Sihol said.
Despite police involvement in the case, the wife has yet to formally press charges against her husband.
One of the reasons for Indonesia’s hidden epidemic of domestic violence are cultural taboos surrounding the subject, which not only prevent victims from speaking out but also make it less likely for authorities to act.
Women’s rights activists have long argued that Indonesia needs to amend its laws to take into account different forms of domestic abuse and sexual violence to end a culture of impunity for victimizers. A piece of legislation that would do just that, RUU Penghapusan Kekerasan Seksual (Bill on the Eradication of Sexual Violence) has been under consideration since 2014 but there has not yet been any major movement on it.
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