Tragic Death of Woman in Malang Reveals Murder by Boyfriend Over Motorcycle Repairs

Police have revealed the perpetrator of the murder of HMZ, a 17-year-old woman whose body was found with her hands tied and her mouth gagged in the Kedung Winong River, Sukopuro Village, Jabung District, Malang Regency. The perpetrator turned out to be the victim’s boyfriend. “The perpetrator knew the victim through a friend in December 2025, so about three months ago,” said the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Malang Police, AKP Hafiz Prasetia Akbar, as reported by detikJatim on Tuesday (24 February 2026). The perpetrator is known to be a daily wage worker. The victim and the suspect often communicated through social media. “It so happened that the suspect was working as a daily wage worker at the time, and since then they got to know each other and started a relationship through social media,” he said. Hafiz revealed that during the almost three months they knew each other, they agreed to meet on Wednesday (11 February) in the Kertosono area. They decided to travel together on the victim’s motorbike from Nganjuk Regency to Kediri Regency and stopped in the Batu City area. After staying at a relative’s house in the Kedungkandang area on Friday (13 February 2026), the victim visited the perpetrator’s house in the Jabung area, Malang Regency. In short, an argument broke out between them regarding the cost of repairing the damage to the victim’s motorbike, which they had ridden from Kertosono, Nganjuk. “On 13 February, specifically on Friday, the victim and the suspect were riding a motorbike around the suspect’s house, which is in the Jabung District. Then an argument broke out,” he said. The suspect then lost control and strangled the victim until she lost consciousness. When he heard the victim groaning, the suspect removed some of the victim’s clothes, which he then used to tie her hands and gag her mouth to prevent her from making noise. “After that, the suspect panicked and returned to his house, which was not far from the crime scene,” Hafiz said. Read the full story here and here. (wnv/jbr)