Slain journalist's widow fights depression<\/p>\n
By Asip Agus Hasani<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Seven months of legal proceedings have shed
\nno light on the bizarre murder of Yogyakarta journalist Fuad
\nMuhammad Syafruddin, better known as Udin, but have mounted
\nsuffering on his widow Marsiyem.<\/p>\n
Irregularities have marred the case, including the dumping of
\nUdin's blood sample into the sea by the police and the Yogyakarta
\nProsecutor's Office rejecting four times the police dossiers
\ncharging suspect Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, with murder.<\/p>\n
With the homicide case hanging in the balance, Marsiyem, the
\nkey witness of her husband's murder, is now near mental
\nexhaustion following seven nerve-racking police questioning
\nsessions.<\/p>\n
"Her mental condition may lead to her death," Marsiyem's
\npsychiatrist Soemardi told The Jakarta Post last week.<\/p>\n
An increasingly thin Marsiyem has always refused to talk to
\nanybody. She secludes herself in her bedroom, worrying her
\nparents-in-laws, Mujilah and Wagiman, who take care of her two
\nchildren, 13-year-old Yulaika Dita Kresna and three-year-old
\nZulkarnaen Wikanjaya.<\/p>\n
A tearful Mujilah, Udin's mother, said little Zulkarnaen was
\nconfused about his mother's behavior.<\/p>\n
"He (Zulkarnaen) always tries to ask his mother to play with
\nhim, but receives no response. Then he cries.<\/p>\n
"He will stop weeping only after I lull him and leave him
\nsleeping near his unmoved mother," Mujilah said.<\/p>\n
Soemardi said that Marsiyem bears too much of a mental burden.
\n"That's why I don't recommend more police questioning. Who would
\nbe to blame if she became insane after questioning?" he asked.<\/p>\n
Marsiyem's refusal to continue with police questioning has
\ncreated a number of blanks in the police's dossiers, which makes
\nit unsurprising that the Prosecutor's Office said the dossiers
\nwere incomplete and lacked evidence to try Iwik.<\/p>\n
Marsiyem's lawyer Budi Hartono of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid
\nInstitute questioned the police's professionalism for requesting
\nto question her more.<\/p>\n
"So what have they done with her testimony in the last seven
\nsessions?" Budi asked.<\/p>\n
Iwik, a driver for an advertising company, was released in
\nNovember after three months in police detention. He remains the
\nonly suspect.<\/p>\n
Udin, a journalist of the local daily Bernas, was attacked on
\nAug. 13 and died in hospital four days later.<\/p>\n
It is widely believed the assault was linked to his
\ninvestigative reporting on alleged widespread corruption within
\nthe Bantul administration.<\/p>\n
Marsiyem, who came face to face with the attacker, has
\ntestified that Iwik was not the man who went to her house and
\nbludgeoned her husband. But the police insisted on targeting
\nIwik.<\/p>\n
Soemardi criticized the police for developing a improvised
\nscenario, saying jealousy had incited Iwik to beat Udin to death.
\nThe police speculated that Udin had an affair with Iwik's wife
\nSunarti.<\/p>\n
"Marsiyem first thought that the police would help discover
\nthe killer, but she was disappointed with the police's disrespect
\nof her husband," Soemardi said.<\/p>\n
"How can a woman who is still mourning her husband tolerate
\nthe police's treatment?" he asked.<\/p>\n
The police are now standing trial for negligence in losing
\nUdin's blood sample.<\/p>\n
Marsiyem is suing Bantul police precinct chief Lt. Col. Yotje
\nMende and police officer Chief Sgt. Edy Wuryanto. She is seeking
\nRp 105 million (US$45,000) in damages for negligence.<\/p>\n
With the murder case shrouded in uncertainty, Wagiman and
\nMujilah are worried about Marsiyem's worsening health.<\/p>\n
"She may be cured if the real murderer is arrested and tried,"
\nsaid Wagiman.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/slain-journalists-widow-fights-depression-1447893297",
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