It many countries, it might be considered too nosy to ask young, single people, “when are you getting married?” But in Indonesia, the query is quite commonplace — a seemingly innocuous question which is, at best, annoying but, at worst, can cause tempers to flare up and even lead to murder.
On Saturday, police arrested a 28-year-old man identified by his initials FN in West Jakarta while he was on the run after he was suspected of murder. The police say that on January 18, FN murdered a pregnant 32-year-old woman identified by her initials IA in their village in Garut, West Java, after she jokingly asked him why he hasn’t gotten married yet.
“Since they’re neighbors, she greeted him and said in Sundanese, ‘go get married if you don’t want to feel embarrassed. Everyone else already has two or three kids, whereas you haven’t even gotten married,’” said Garut Police Chief Budi Satria Wiguna, as quoted by Liputan 6 yesterday.
According to the police’s account, FN, still holding a grudge from IA’s remarks, later went over to her house under the pretense of wanting to have a chat. After IA gave FN a glass of water, she went to return the Quran she was reading to her bedroom. FN then followed her from behind, pushed her down and then strangled her.
IA tried to fight back and poked FN in the eye with her finger, and he retaliated by biting her finger until it bled.
“At that time the suspect stepped on the victim’s neck until she died, and then he covered her face with a small towel,” Budi said.
FN then stole IDR800K (US$59.63) in cash and a cellphone from IA before he went on the run. The police eventually tracked him down and arrested him at Kalideres Terminal in West Jakarta on Saturday.
“The suspect tried to resist arrest so we shot him in the left leg,” Budi said.
FN was charged with premeditated murder and could face life in prison.
The victim’s husband said he and his family are hoping for a harsher punishment for FN.
“I have no choice but to accept this incident, but life must be paid with life,” he said, as quoted by Kompas.
