Police suspect young officer killed by two seniors after he ate lunch with one of their wives

A regency in Aceh just recently issued sharia-based regulations banning men and women who are not married or immediately family from eating at the same table in cafés. While we’d never condone such a blatantly discriminatory law, considering the patriarchally possessive mentality of some men in Indonesia, we can at least understand why some would consider it necessary.

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An officer of the Sulawesi Regional Police died early on Monday morning, allegedly after he was beaten to death by two of his seniors. The suspected motive for the fatal assault is that the victim, Fathurrahman Ismail, had eaten a meal with the wife of one of the senior officers, identified by his rank and first initial as Bripda Z.

“The motive of the perpetrators in persecuting the victim was because of jealousy. It is known that, two weeks ago, Bripda Z’s wife invited the victim to have lunch,” Harry Goldenhartd, the head of public relations for the Southeast Sulawesi Police, told the media yesterday as quoted by Kompas.

“Knowing this, there arose jealousy and emotion in Bripda Z. Monday at 12:30 AM, the perpetrators went to the barracks and interrogated the victims and that is when the assault took place,” Harry continued. The police spokesperson denied rumors that Fathurrahman had been having an affair with Bripda Z’s wife and that Bripda Z had no evidence to believe he had.

The beating took place at the barracks of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police Operations Center. After Fathurrahman appeared to have trouble breathing, the suspect took him to a nearby hospital for medical treatment but his injuries were too severe.

Harry said that Bripda Z and his accomplice, Bripda F, were being charged with assault leading to death, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.