Slain journalist's widow fights depression
By Asip Agus Hasani
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Seven months of legal proceedings have shed no light on the bizarre murder of Yogyakarta journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, better known as Udin, but have mounted suffering on his widow Marsiyem.
Irregularities have marred the case, including the dumping of Udin's blood sample into the sea by the police and the Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office rejecting four times the police dossiers charging suspect Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, with murder.
With the homicide case hanging in the balance, Marsiyem, the key witness of her husband's murder, is now near mental exhaustion following seven nerve-racking police questioning sessions.
"Her mental condition may lead to her death," Marsiyem's psychiatrist Soemardi told The Jakarta Post last week.
An increasingly thin Marsiyem has always refused to talk to anybody. She secludes herself in her bedroom, worrying her parents-in-laws, Mujilah and Wagiman, who take care of her two children, 13-year-old Yulaika Dita Kresna and three-year-old Zulkarnaen Wikanjaya.
A tearful Mujilah, Udin's mother, said little Zulkarnaen was confused about his mother's behavior.
"He (Zulkarnaen) always tries to ask his mother to play with him, but receives no response. Then he cries.
"He will stop weeping only after I lull him and leave him sleeping near his unmoved mother," Mujilah said.
Soemardi said that Marsiyem bears too much of a mental burden. "That's why I don't recommend more police questioning. Who would be to blame if she became insane after questioning?" he asked.
Marsiyem's refusal to continue with police questioning has created a number of blanks in the police's dossiers, which makes it unsurprising that the Prosecutor's Office said the dossiers were incomplete and lacked evidence to try Iwik.
Marsiyem's lawyer Budi Hartono of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute questioned the police's professionalism for requesting to question her more.
"So what have they done with her testimony in the last seven sessions?" Budi asked.
Iwik, a driver for an advertising company, was released in November after three months in police detention. He remains the only suspect.
Udin, a journalist of the local daily Bernas, was attacked on Aug. 13 and died in hospital four days later.
It is widely believed the assault was linked to his investigative reporting on alleged widespread corruption within the Bantul administration.
Marsiyem, who came face to face with the attacker, has testified that Iwik was not the man who went to her house and bludgeoned her husband. But the police insisted on targeting Iwik.
Soemardi criticized the police for developing a improvised scenario, saying jealousy had incited Iwik to beat Udin to death. The police speculated that Udin had an affair with Iwik's wife Sunarti.
"Marsiyem first thought that the police would help discover the killer, but she was disappointed with the police's disrespect of her husband," Soemardi said.
"How can a woman who is still mourning her husband tolerate the police's treatment?" he asked.
The police are now standing trial for negligence in losing Udin's blood sample.
Marsiyem is suing Bantul police precinct chief Lt. Col. Yotje Mende and police officer Chief Sgt. Edy Wuryanto. She is seeking Rp 105 million (US$45,000) in damages for negligence.
With the murder case shrouded in uncertainty, Wagiman and Mujilah are worried about Marsiyem's worsening health.
"She may be cured if the real murderer is arrested and tried," said Wagiman.