A shocking killing took place at Azzahra Medical Center in East Jakarta yesterday when police say a doctor named Helmi had an altercation with his wife, Doctor Letty Sultri, and fatally shot her.
According to authorities, the incident happened at around 2pm on Thursday. Letty was working at the medical center but Helmi was not and apparently only came to confront his wife. After a heated argument, Helmi allegedly shot Letty six times in the face and chest. He then ran away from the clinic but surrendered himself to police two hours later while carrying two pistols.
Police have suggested that the motive behind the fatal shooting was that Letty had threatened to divorce her husband. Records showed that she had already begun divorce proceedings at the East Jakarta religious court.
Although Helmi is also a doctor, he is not currently employed. Media reports say he lost a previous job at another clinic for allegedly raping an employee, although the victim chose not to report the crime to the police.
Letty’s family said Helmi had been physically abusive numerous times before and decided to divorce him because she could not take it anymore. Police admit Letty had reported the abuse to authorities in July and used evidence from their investigation as evidence in her divorce filing in the religious court. However, police claim they never pursued criminal charges against Helmi because Letty had “made peace” with her husband. The murder victim’s family fiercely denied that and said they were still waiting for police to pursue domestic violence charges against Helmi up until Thursday’s shooting.
Letty’s family also says that Helmi had threatened to kill his wife several times should she go through with the divorce.
The police have charged Helmi with murder and he could face a sentence of 20 years to life in prison or the death penalty.
