Victims want death for Bali bombers, uncertain about future

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Victims and their families still deeply traumatized over last month's Bali bomb attacks say that death is the only fitting punishment for such an evil, barbaric deed.

They also praise the police for their success in quickly capturing leading suspects Imam Samudra and Amrozi in less or more than a month after the Oct. 12 bombing.

The authorities have to do much more, however, to arrest other suspects, particularly the real masterminds behind the attacks, they told The Jakarta Post separately on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The victims believe that the police have made significant progress in solving the tragic bombing that has devastated Bali and its tourism sector, upon which both the Balinese and migrants depend for their livelihood.

For the victims and their families outraged by the bombing, death for the perpetrators would be a fitting punishment.

"I want the bombers sentenced to death immediately," Ngesti Puji Rahayu, better known as Yayuk, one of the victims wounded by the explosion at Paddy's bar in Legian, Kuta, said, venting her wrath.

Yayuk, who works as a chef for a small restaurant called Road Kill near Kuta, visited Paddy's bar with her 26-year old boss Deasy Widyawati Rahayu. They arrived at the cafe 30 minutes before it was bombed.

The two later fled to the rear of the cafe and survived the tragedy, the worst bombing in Indonesia's history.

Deasy, who is currently receiving medical care at Concord Hospital in Sydney, made a similar demand for the death penalty for the bombers, according to Deasy's mother Sri Widyawati.

"They deserve punishment commensurate with what they had done. Because they have killed others, they must be sentenced to death," Sri said.

Niluh Januarini, whose 18-year-old son I Nyoman Mawa is still missing after the explosion at Paddy's, said she had no feeling of revenge but was extremely outraged by the evil act of the terrorists.

Death would be the only commensurate punishment for the perpetrators, she added. Mawa is believed to have died and his body may be among the dozens of unidentified corpses still at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar.

Zuniar Nuraini, of Situbondo town in East Java who lost her 46-year-old husband Aryoso Rahmat, expressed her deep anger toward the bombers who caused her husband's death at the neighboring Sari Club.

"Revenge will never bring my husband back. What we should do is to give them (the bombers) the harshest possible punishment," Zuniar told the Post.

The survivors and families of the dead are still clearly traumatized by the tragedy. Some of them have even been avoiding watching television and reading newspapers that give updated news on the bombings.

"I don't want to watch TV. I know from my friends that Amrozi and Imam Samudra have been arrested as suspects. I don't want to follow the news on them," said Yayuk, a widow who lives alone in Bali.

She was discharged from the Royal Hospital in Perth, Australia, last week after receiving treatment there for serious burns. She had earlier received medical care at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, after which she was taken to Perth for treatment on Oct. 18.

The upper half of Yayuk's body from her face to navel shows traces of the burns. She underwent plastic surgery on her face at Royal Hospital.

Her health is improving but she is prohibited from going under the sun for several months as part of her recovery. She is still under the care of an Australian doctor who visits her every day at her boarding house in the Seminyak area near Kuta.

Yayuk, 40, who comes from the East Java town of Jember, will return home this week to celebrate Idul Fitri early next month.

Some other victims' families, however, do not know how they will survive following the death of their loved ones, who were the family breadwinners.

Zuniar, for instance, admitted that she did not know how she would survive in the future along with her 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son after the death of her husband, who worked as a driver for Sari Club.

She and other victims have received humanitarian aid from the central and regional administrations as well as several organizations, including Hati Foundation and Rotary Club, which will help the families of victims to survive for several months. However, their future remains unclear.