Family comes to terms with daugther's murder

Family comes to terms with daugther's murder

Wahyuana, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi

The colorful bobby pins that 11-year-old Heni Febrina Purnama
Sari took such joy in decorating her hair with served a much
sadder purpose a week ago; they helped Febrina's family identify
the young girl's body.

Merry Nainggolan, 57, recalled how happy her granddaughter was
with the set of hairpins she gave her for her birthday on Feb.
15.

"It was a simple family gathering ... all my children were
there. Febi loved my present," she told The Jakarta Post in a
recent interview.

Henry Harahap, 43, and Lina Marlaeni, 40, gave their daughter
some money "so she could buy whatever she wanted", while aunts
and uncles gave her clothes, toys and books for her birthday.

"My brothers and sisters took turns expressing their hopes for
everything that Febi would do in the future," Henry said.

Febi was the apple of her family's eye. The sixth grader was
at the top of her class at the Pamardi Yuana Bhakti elementary
school in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, according to principal Sri Kanon.

"Because of her achievements, she was already registered at
the junior high school even though she had not yet graduated from
elementary school," the principal added.

Last Sunday, the school held a special prayer for Febrina.

On Feb. 17, a Thursday, two days after the birthday party,
Febi and two of her classmates went to the Pondok Gede mall after
school to take some pictures together in a photo booth.

Wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and black sandals, Febi
arranged her bangs with an array of colorful hairpins for the
photos.

The three girls left the mall together. According to her two
friends, Febi got off the public minivan near her house in the
Sinar Kasih housing estate in Jatimakmur, Pondok Gede.

Neighbors say that a man, about 25 years of age, approached
Febi before she got to her house and the two later left the
housing estate together.

Febi was never again seen alive.

It was not long before her entire family was out searching for
her. They reported her missing to the police and uploaded photos
of her onto the Internet. Febi's mother checked every hospital in
Bekasi for her daughter.

On Feb. 21, the police discovered a body in a rented house on
Jl. Masjid Arrahmah in Jati Rahayu subdistrict, not far from
Febi's housing estate. Though police estimated the age of the
victim to be about 30, Febi's family insisted on seeing the body.

"Even though we were told it was the body of an older woman, I
insisted on seeing it myself. I went to the morgue at Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital (in Central Jakarta) to check. I
could tell it was my daughter from the hairpins ... they were
still in her hair," Lina said.

Police were able to identify the tenant of the house as Yusuf,
though they have been unable to locate him. He has been listed as
the sole suspect in the murder.

Bekasi Police detectives chief Comr. Yudi Agustinus Benyamin
Sihaeloe said Febi's body was found in the bathroom.

The autopsy showed the girl had been raped and beaten. "She
died of strangulation," Sihaeloe said, adding that police had
found hairs and fingerprints belonging to the suspect on the
body.

Henry dismissed suggestions that Febi was kidnapped and
murdered by one of his business rivals. "If that was the case,
how come I never received a ransom demand?"

Neighbors suspect Febi was hypnotized by the unidentified man
into follow him away from her home.

Febrina's grandfather, Frans F Harahap, 71, a former
journalist with Sinar Harapan daily, simply puts his faith in
God.

"I am still in grief because she was our first grandchild ...
she stayed with us more than she stayed at her parents' home. But
I should see it as her destiny. I hope God gives her a place in
heaven."