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."