Man struggles for justice over wife's death

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indra Safri Yakub has refused to back down from his struggle to see justice done after the untimely death of his wife, even though the courts turned down his civil lawsuit against 11 doctors of three hospitals last week.

He filed on Thursday a fresh complaint with the Jakarta Police.

"I'm lodging an official complaint against two doctors of Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) for alleged negligence that led to the death of my wife," said Indra, who was accompanied by Erna Ratnaningsih of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta).

Erna said she and Indra were now collecting more evidence on the other nine doctors before filing complaints against them for allegedly failing to provide proper assistance.

In December 2002, Adya Vitri Harsisusanti died during a pre- surgery procedure at RSCM.

Indra said on Dec. 19 a doctor at RSCM inserted a needle into a vein in his wife's neck to administer an anesthetic for surgery the following day.

"My wife had been suffering from some kind of digestion problem," he said. "The doctor said she had a problem with her colon."

"Forty minutes later, she was dead. I remember seeing the doctor and he looked panicked," Indra said.

Afterwards he found out that the doctor was a general practitioner, not an anesthesiologist.

"An anesthetic specialist should have accompanied the general practitioner," Erna added. "But the doctor was alone that day, so we've also filed a complaint against the head of the anesthesiology department at the hospital."

Indra's grief deepened when he heard from a surgeon that his wife died not because of the colon problem, but due to neurological shock.

"After she died, I asked them not to perform an autopsy on my wife. I didn't have the heart," he asked.

The absence of the autopsy report was one of the factors cited by the judges at the Central Jakarta District Court last week as they tossed out his lawsuit.

"But I had other evidence other than the autopsy report. I had written evidence from my wife's doctor about the possible cause of her death," he said. "I think the evidence is strong enough."